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tihrary  of CKe  'theolocjical  ^etninat^ 

PRINCETON    •    NEW  JERSEY 
PRESENTED  BY 

Harry  R.  DeYoung 

.■2)353 


f6 


^'C6,c/ii  StV.AV<^y 


A  DAY  m  CAPEPiNAUM. 


BY  DR.  FRANZ   DELITZSCH, 

Pro/e^tor  in  tht  Uniteriity  of  Leiptig. 


^rcnsfctcb  from  itf(  t^itb  ^crwon  f  biiioit 

BY 

REV.    GEORGE    H.   SCHODDE,   PH.D.. 


Profeator  in  Capital  University,  Columbxtt,  Ohio. 


Toronto 


FUNK  &  WAGNALLS   COMPANY 

1892  London 

New  York 


Bntered,  according  to  Act  of  CoBgress,  in  the  year  1881, 

By  FUNK  &  WAGNALLS, 

In  the  Q£Sce  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washingtfm,  D.  C 


PEEFACE. 


The  following  pages  are  an  effort  to  give,  with- 
in the  space  of  a  day,  a  vivid  picture  of  the  Gali- 
lean activity  of  Jesus.  The  historical  data  are 
taken  from  the  gospels,  but  consist  not  only  of  what 
is  there  narrated,  and  which  can  be  made  clear  and 
elucidated  by  all  the  means  of  exact  exegetical  sci- 
ence and  research  in  biblical  antiquities,  but  embrace 
also  many  features  that  have  hitherto  been  but  little 
noticed,  but  which  can  be  drawn  out  by  comparison, 
combination,  and  conclusions.  The  description  of 
the  localities  in  their  present  appearance  is  based, 
although  not  exclusively,  on  the  works  of  Robinson  ; 
their  reproduction  in  their  older  form  on  the  notices 
scattered  in  Josephus,  the  Talmud,  and  the  Mid- 
rashim,  for  which  the  author  was  not  restricted 
to  those  already  collected  by  Reland,  Lightfoot, 
Schwarz,  and  Neubauer.  The  illustrations  of  the 
circumstances  of  the  times  and  of  the  life  of  the 
people  are  in  no  wise  the  work  of  fiction  ;  they  are 


IV  PREFACE. 

throughout  drawn  from  the  oldest  Jewish  literature 
as  their  sources.* 

With  these  words  characterizing  this  magnificent 
little  book,  the  author,  Professor  Franz  Delitzsch, 
recognized  by  all  as  the  leading  Old  Testament 
scholar  of  the  world,  sent  it  out  for  the  first  time 
in  the  summer  of  1870.  Since  then  two  new  edi- 
tions have  been  called  for,  and  the  venerable  Nestor 
of  German  theologians  has  given  it  the  finish  of  his 
continued  biblical  and  Palestine  studies.  Delitzsch 
is  a  Christian,  a  scholar,  and  a  poet.  These  three 
leading  features  of  the  almost  myriad-minded  Leip- 
zig professor  are  most  harmoniously  blended  in  the 
little  volume  here  translated.  It  is  as  truly  an  his- 
torical picture  of  a  busy  day  in  Christ's  life  as  could 
possibly  be  drawn  ;  it  is  written  with  a  poetic 
fervor  that  holds  the  attention  and  interest  to  the 
end  ;  it  is  written  with  such  a  glowing  love  for  the 

*  The  notes  added  by  Delitzsch  by  way  of  appendix  to  the 
German  edition,  indicating  the  sources  or  giving  further 
illustrations,  have  been,  for  the  most  part,  omitted,  as  the 
specialist  will  resort  to  the  original  in  any  case,  and  the  general 
reader  will  not  need  the  notes.  In  a  number  of  cases,  however, 
the  contents  of  the  notes  have  been  worked  into  the  text  itself. 


PREFACE.  V 

Saviour  and  faith  in  His  salvation,  that  it  warms 
and  enkindles  the  heart  of  all  who  peruse  these 
pages.  Thank  God  that  Christian  science  and  the 
Christian  Church  still  have  such  noble  men  to  serve 
their  cause  as  Franz  Delitzsch  ! 

The  Translator, 


CONTENTS. 


I,  PAOE 

Thb  Place '  •  •      ^ 


II. 
The  Morning ^ 


III. 
Noon - "^ 

IV. 
MiNCHA  (Vesper) ^® 


The  Etenino 


V, 

102 


A  DAT  IN  CAPEEISrAUM. 


I. 
THE  PLACE. 


To  follow  out  the  events  of  the  past  and  to  repro- 
duce them  with  all  the  vividness  of  life — this  is  the 
true  art  of  the  historian.  And  to  portray  the  life 
of  antiquity  on  the  basis  of  the  bare  facts  of  the 
records  in  such  a  manner  that  we  are,  as  it  were, 
made  contemporaries,  and  placed  in  the  midst  of 
the  surroundings,  customs,  and  habits  of  a  people  , 
— this  is  the  art  of  the  archaeologist.  But  if  to  this 
process  is  joined  the  imagination,  which,  with  the 
help  of  a  thorough  research  of  the  past,  fills  out  the 
accounts  that  traditional  history  hands  down  in 
fragmentary  form,  and  enlarges  them  into  pictures 
of  history  and  of  customs,  there  results  from  this  a 
mixture  of  fact  and  fiction.  But  the  fiction  also 
will  be  truth,  if  what  it  contributes  is  not  without 
rhyme  or  reason,  but  has  been  drawn  out  by  a  long 
spiritual  communion  with  the  individuals  to  be  por- 


10  A    DAY   IN   CAPERNAUM. 

t rayed  and  withtlieir  people  and  their  age.  Bacon, 
on  one  occasion,  calls  the  historian  an  inverted 
prophet.  He  is,  in  case  he  does  not  look  at  the  past 
superficially,  but  seeks  rationally  to  explain  the  past 
to  himself  and  to  others,  a  seer  who  looks  back- 
ward. Especially  such  pictures  of  the  past  which 
are  to  be  represented  to  our  eyes  in  all  their  sur- 
roundings must  not  only  be  drawn,  but,  after  a 
thorough  study  of  the  whole  matter,  they  must  be- 
come a  portion  of  the  mental  personality. 

Understanding  our  task  in  this  sense,  let  us  make 
the  western  shore  of  the  Sea  of  Gennesaret,  along 
the  lower  border  of  Galilee,  the  home  of  our 
,  thoughts  for  a  short  time.  No  other  inland  water  on 
the  whole  earth  enjoys  such  a  fame  as  does  this  Sea 
of  Gennesaret.  The  basin  in  which  it  lies  was  formed 
in  the  secondary  period  of  the  earth's  formation. 
The  basalt  on  the  western  shore  ends  in  the  heights 
which  surround  it  on  the  north,  just  as  the  basalt 
ground  of  the  Plain  of  Esdrelon  begins  in  the  east- 
ern, northern,  and  southern  hills,  where  almost 
thirty  places  for  the  exit  of  basalt  streams  can  be 
seen.  The  whole  depression  of  the  valley,  of  which 
the  basin  of  this  sea  forms  a  part,  lies  far  below  the 


THE   PLACE.  11 

level  of  the  sea,  and  down  at  the  Dead  Sea  it  de- 
scends to  such  a  depth  that  there  is  scarcely  another 
depression  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  as  deep  as 
this.  In  this  valley,  which,  like  the  ditch  around 
a  fortress,  separates  Western  Palestine,  the  real 
Canaan,  the  land  of  Israel  in  the  narrow  sense  of 
the  word,  from  East  Palestine,  the  Jordan  flows, 
coming  from  the  foot  of  Mount  Hermon,  and  run- 
ning through  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  as  the  Khine  does 
through  the  Sea  of  Constance,  and  the  Rhone  through 
the  Lake  of  Geneva,  to  end  its  course  in  the  Dead 
Sea.  From  the  place  where  the  Jordan,  after  wind- 
ing its  way  through  the  Baticha  plain,  empties  into 
the  sea,  its  course  can  be  followed  for  quite  a  dis- 
tance. Then  it  disappears  entirely,  and  in  a  scarcely 
perceptible  manner  the  bulk  of  water  which  has 
received  it  moves  southward.  Even  the  climate 
of  the  northern  half  of  the  western  shore,  together 
with  the  Plain  of  Gennesar,  is  about  as  warm  as  is 
that  of  Egypt.  The  climate  of  the  southern  half, 
where  the  hills  descend  abruptly,  is  still  warmer,  and 
the  region  around  Jericho  lying  beyond  the  mouth  of 
the  Jordan  has  the  climate  and  vegetation  of  a  tropi- 
cal country,  so  that  the  palm-trees,  which  in  most 


12  A    DAY   IN   CAPERNAUM. 

parts  of  Palestine  are  found  only  as  ornamental  trees, 
here  (as  also  along  tlie  coast  south  of  Gaza)  bear  ripe 
fruit.  It  is  a  characteristic  of  the  Holy  Land  that 
within  comparatively  small  limits  it  imites  the  great- 
est variety  of  land  formations  and  land  peculiarities. 
But  what  century,  what  period  of  history  shall 
we  select  in  order  to  make  ourselves  at  home  on 
the  western  shore  of  the  Galilean  Sea  ?  Which  of 
the  great  historical  events  that  followed  almost  in 
a  stream  the  course  of  time  on  these  few  miles  of 
sea  coast  will  fascinate  us  ?  This  will  be  seen  when 
we  have  started  on  the  way,  and  have  walked 
through  this  land,  so  richly  blessed  with  attractions 
by  nature  and  by  history,  following  the  example  of 
my  dear  friend,  David  Hefter,  who  brought  me 
from  there  a  now  dried-up,  but  still  pretty,  palm 
branch ;  and  as,  later,  in  1876,  my  friends.  Pro- 
fessors V.  Orelli  and  Kautzsch  did,  who  there  rev- 
elled in  the  sight  of  those  localities,  which,  as  they 
themselves,  when  returning  home,  wrote  in  a  letter 
from  the  harbor  at  Larnaca,  had  been  made  all  the 
dearer  to  them  by  this  little  book  of  mine.  And 
thus  I  have  in  spirit  travelled  with  one  of  my  friends, 
with  whom  I  am  united  in  the  love  of  the  Lord 


THE    PLACE.  13 

and  of  His  cliosen  people,  and  these  wanderings  I 
shall  now  repeat  with  him,  after  having  been  taught 
sharper  observation  and  more  faithful  reproduction 
of  the  impressions  received  through  the  instructions 
of  those  friends  to  whom  1  express  my  gratitude  in 
the  introductory  words  to  this  book. 

In  coming  from  Jerusalem  and  up  the  Jordan 
Yalley  we  meet  at  the  southw^estern  extremity  of 
the  sea,  where  the  Jordan  leaves  it,  the  hill  of 
Kerak,  almost  entirely  surrounded  by  water,  and 
beneath  this  hill  a  dam  resting  upon  arches  over 
marshy  ground,  the  remnants  of  a  ten-arched  bridge 
across  the  Jordan.  It  is  the  bridge  of  Sennabris, 
where  the  Roman  legions  encamped  before  they, 
under  the  leadership  of  Yespasian  and  his  son  Titus, 
made  their  entrance  into  the  city  of  Tiberias,  situated 
about  one  and  a  quarter  hours  farther  up.  Here, 
also,  it  was  that,  in  the  days  of  the  Crusades,  Baldwin 
I.  was  defeated.  After  a  walk  of  twenty-five  minutes 
on  the  path  that  forces  its  way  between  Kerak  and 
the  rugged  descent  of  the  hills  bordering  upon  the 
lake,  we  pass  by  some  ruins  called  ^'  Kadish  ;"  and, 
having  gone  on  three  quarters  of  an  hour  farther,  we 
will  find  ourselves  in  the  vicinity  of  Tiberias. 


14  A   DAY   IlSr   CAPERNAUM. 

The  road  runs  along  close  to  the  hills  on  a  narrow 
level  coast  tract,  and  the  region  is  void  and  almost 
entirely  without  vegetation.  Before  we  reach  the 
city,  we  pass  its  famous  hot  springs.  These  formerly 
were  in  the  corporate  limits  of  the  city  proper, 
which  at  that  time  extended  down  so  far,  but  has 
now  shrunk  together  to  miserable  dimensions.  Be- 
fore us  lies  the  old  and  the  new  bathing-house,  and 
the  arched  basin,  from  which  the  water  of  the  prin- 
cipal spring,  of  medium  warmth,  with  a  strong  sul- 
phur smell,  is  conducted  to  the  new  bathing-house. 
An  accurate  chemical  analysis  has  as  yet  not  been 
made  ;  but  doubtless,  when  made,  it  will  confirm 
the  opinion  of  the  similarity  of  the  waters,  which 
are  now  used  considerably,  with  the  sulphur  springs 
of  Aix-la-Chapelle.  That  the  old  Tiberias  did  ex- 
tend down  to  these  springs,  we  can  see  yet,  by  the 
ruins  of  old  foundations  and  walls,  and  by  the  gran- 
ite columns  still  lying  around. 

In  order  to  reach  the  "  Tabaria"  of  the  present 
day,  we  go  northward  for  half  an  hour  farther  on 
the  same  level.  There  beyond  the  baths  it  lies,  in 
a  narrow  valley,  at  the  foot  of  a  rather  abruptly 
ascending     hill.       How    often    this    Tiberias    has 


THE    PLACE.  15 

changed  masters  !  It  lias  stood  under  the  control 
of  the  West-Roman  emperors,  of  the  East- Horn  an 
emperors,  of  the  Califs,  of  the  Crusaders,  of  the 
Turks,  and  a  short  time  under  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 
But  no  destruction  by  war  has  equalled  the  horrors 
of  January  1st,  1837,  when  an  earthquake  killed 
about  seven  hundred  persons,  one  fourth  of  all  its 
inhabitants,  and  buried  them  under  the  ruins  of 
their  houses.  In  the  Roman  wars  the  city  suffered 
but  very  little.  It  bore  the  name  of  the  Emperor 
Tiberius.  The  Emperor  Nero  had  presented  the 
place  to  Agrippa,  King  of  Judea,  and  when  Ves- 
pasian encamped  with  his  three  legions  on  the 
southern  border  of  the  sea,  the  city  threw  aside  its 
revolutionary  leaders  and  begged  for  mercy.  Saved 
in  this  way,  Tiberias  became  for  the  following  cen- 
turies the  centre  and  gathering-place  for  all  those 
agitations  which  aimed  at  the  self-preservation  of 
the  Jewish  people  in  their  spiritual  unity  and  great- 
ness. Bat  in  another  respect  it  was  the  place  where 
Judaism  reached  its  lowest  stage.  After  the  San- 
hedrin  had  been  deprived  of  its  hall  of  assembly  in 
the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  it  wandered,  as  the  Tal- 
mud says,  from  place  to  place,  until  it  finally  went 


16  A   DAY   IN-   CAPERlfAUM. 

down  from  tlie  Galilean  capital  of  Sepphoris  to 
the  deep  valley  city  of  Tiberias.  Among  the  signs 
which  are  represented  to  accompany  the  advent  of 
the  Messiah,  according  to  the  statements  of  the  Tal- 
mud, is  also  this,  that  Galilee  shall  be  devastated, 
and  that  the  waters  of  the  Jordan  which  pour  out 
of  the  grotto  of  Paneas  shall  be  changed  into  blood. 
When  the  Eomans  undertook  to  besiege  Jerusalem, 
they  had  already  subdued  Galilee,  and  transformed 
it  into  a  mighty  waste  of  dead  bodies  and  ruins. 
The  sign  had  been  fulfilled,  but,  nevertheless,  the 
Jews  transferred  the  Messianic  hope  to  the  future 
and  connect  it  with  Tiberias.  From  Tiberias,  they 
say,  Israel  shall  be  delivered  ;  in  Tiberias  the  great 
Sanhedrin  will  again  be  recalled  to  life  and  then 
depart  to  the  temple  ;  in  Tiberias  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead  will  take  place  forty  years  earlier  than 
elsewhere.  With  this  wealth  of  history  and  story 
which  we  find  at  Tiberias,  we  might  feel  tempted  to 
stay  in  this  city.  The  Sea  of  Galilee,  which  is  con- 
sidered to  be  the  chosen  one  of  God  among  the  seven 
of  the  Holy  Land,  has  received  one  of  its  names  from 
this  city.  In  spite  of  all  this,  we  must  go  farther 
on.   Adieu,  Tabaria  ;  '^  shetoba  reijathah,^^  thy  ap- 


THE   PLACE.  17 

pearance  is  beautiful,  as  is  the  meaning  of  thy  name. 
Keith er  the  grave  of  Rabbi  Akiba,  nor  the  grave  of 
Moses  Maimonides,  nor  all  thy  famous  graves  can 
keep  us.  We  will  go  farther  on,  seeking  life  among 
the  living  and  not  among  the  dead. 

On  following  the  road  still  farther  up  along  the 
sea,  we  leave  the  lowlands  of  Tiberias,  and  pass  be- 
yond the  base  of  the  hill,  which  extends  almost 
down  to  the  very  shore.  After  having  gone  on  a 
good  half  hour  the  road  becomes  wider,  and  we 
enter  a  small  triangular  plain  near  the  sea,  into 
which  the  Wadi  'A^nwds  empties,  through  which 
there  is  an  easy  ascent  to  the  country  farther  back 
toward  Mount  Tabor.  Here  we  pass  along  for  a 
distance  over  a  level  tract  filled  with  shrubbery  of 
oleander  and  castor-oil  plants,  and  here  and  there 
also  a  nebek  tree  (Zizyphus  lotus).  Still  farther  on 
the  hills  again  extend  down  to  the  water's  edge, 
covered  to  half  their  height  with  grass  and  occa- 
sional shrubbery,  and  from  there  on  ascending  in 
almost  perpendicular  masses  of  rocks  to  the  tops. 

T^ot  far  from  Tiberias,  says  Josephus,  hot  springs 
are  found  near  a  place  called  Emmaus.  These 
are  the  springs  that  still  bubble   forth  here  ;   al- 


18  A    DAT   IN   CAPERiq^AUM. 

tboiigli  not  as  hot  as  formerly,  they  are  still  tepid,  and 
are  now  called  "  Ujun-el-Fulvje^'^''  being  found  near 
the  water's  edge  where  the  valley  of  Am  was  ends  in 
the  sea.  When  Yespasian,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  Jewish  war,  had  entered  Tiberias  from  the  south, 
it  having  petitioned  for  his  mercy,  he  tore  down  a 
part  of  the  wall  on  the  south  side  of  the  city  in  order 
that  his  legions  might  not  crowd  and  press  each 
other.  He  encamped  his  three  legions,  between 
Tarichea  and  Tiberias,  in  this  plain  of  Emmaus,  and 
from  here  he  advanced  farther  upward,  in  order  to 
subjugate  Tarichea,  which  was  strongly  fortified  by 
the  rebels.  The  battle  against  this  city,  which  has 
now  disappeared,  leaving  not  a  single  trace  behind, 
was  one  of  the  most  horrible  scenes  in  the  tragic 
destruction  of  the  Jewish,  people.  By  means  of  the 
many  boats  which  they  had  in  their  possession,  the 
sea  apparently  gave  them  a  safe  protection  in  the 
rear  ;  and  on  the  land  side  the  well-known  Josephus, 
who  later  became  the  historian  of  this  war,  the 
friend  of  his  people  only  in  so  far  as  it  was  pro- 
ductive of  honors  for  himself  and  did  not  endanger 
his  life,  had  to  some  extent  fortified  the  place.  But 
after  Titus,  who  had  been  sent  by  his  father.  Yes- 


THE    PLACE.  19 

pasian,  as  tlie  general-in-cliief,  had  conquered  the  un- 
disciplined troops  of  Tarichea  in  open  field  of  battle, 
lie  was  himself  the  first  to  gallop  into  the  city.  It 
was  captured  and  taken  without  opposition,  for  the 
inhabitants  desired  peace,  and  deserted  the  fanatics 
who  were  clamoring  for  war.  The  Romans,  how- 
ever, butchered  without  distinction  those  that  were 
armed  and  those  that  were  not  ;  and,  as  a  great 
number  of  the  inhabitants  had  fled  to  their  boats  and 
were  going  hither  and  thither  on  the  sea,  Yespasian 
caused  rafts  to  be  made  in  all  haste  to  pursue  them, 
and  sent  his  troops  out  on  these.  As  the  boats  were 
but  poorly  manned,  there  could  be  no  thought  for 
contest  in  regular  battle  order.  The  stones  which 
they  threw  rebounded  on  the  iron  coats-of-mail  worn 
by  the  soldiers.  Whenever  a  boat  came  near  a  raft, 
the  former  was  sent  to  the  bottom,  or  the  Roman 
sprang  upon  it  and  killed  the  refugees.  Those  who 
attempted  to  escape  the  swords  and  spears  by  swim- 
ming, were  hit  by  arrows  or  were  caught  by  the 
rafts.  If  they  tried  to  catch  hold  of  these,  their 
hands  or  heads  were  struck  off.  The  boats  which 
held  out  the  longest  were  surrounded,  and  the 
people  in  them  were  either  then  and  there  at  once 


20  A    DAY    IN   CAPERNAUM. 

slain,  or  tliej  were  killed  as  soon  as  they  reached 
the  shore.  According  to  Joseplms,  the  number 
who  were  slain  in  Tarichea  or  on  the  sea  was  sixty- 
five  hundred.  The  Sea  of  Gennesaret  looked  like  a 
great  pool  of  blood,  and  the  shores,  for  a  long  time, 
were  strewn  with  wrecks  and  dead  bodies  which 
decayed  in  the  hot  sun  and  filled  the  air  with  pes- 
tilence. 

The  location  of  this  Tarichea  is  about  the  same 
as  that  of  Magdala,  unless,  possibly,  Tarichea  is  the 
heathen  name  of  the  Jewish  Magdala.  After  leav- 
ing Tiberias  an  hour's  walk,  we  come  to  a  plain 
which  is  encircled  by  hills  ;  and,  in  the  south  of  this, 
where  this  plain  is  shut  off  by  the  hills  that  run 
down  into  the  water,  we  find  Magdala,  formerly  a 
rich  and  luxurious  city,  but  now  shrivelled  down  to 
a  miserable  village.  It  is  impossible  to  hear  of  this 
Magdala  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee  {Megdel  el-  Ghmoe r) 
mentioned,  and  still  less  to  see  it,  without  thinking 
of  that  woman,  from  whose  soul  that  One,  whom 
she  took  to  be  the  gardener  of  Joseph  of  Arima- 
tliea,  removed  the  misty  cloud  with  the  single 
word  "  Mary,"  so  that,  with  the  cry  ^'  Rdbhuni,'''* 
she  fell  at  His  feet  and   worshipped  Him.     Bat 


THE   PLACE.  21 

however  mucli  Magdala,  on  account  of  this  remem- 
brance, may  fascinate  ns,  it  is  not  the  place  where 
we  are  to  abide  ;  for,  higher  than  disciple  and  pnpil 
stands  for  us  tlie  Master. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  west  of  Magdala  the  deep 
defile  of  the  Wadi-el-Hamdn — i.e.^  Yallej  of  the 
Doves,  opens  to  our  view.  The  caves  in  the  rugged 
and  rocky  walls  on  both  sides  of  this  valley,  in 
which  now  the  Syrian  domestic  dove  hides  its  nests 
from  the  hawks  that  also  in  great  number  make 
their  homes  here,  were  formerly  united  to  form  one 
grand  fortress.  At  this  place  a  large  number  of 
bold  adventurers  had  established  themselves  in  the 
days  of  King  Herod,  and  defied  the  Roman  and 
Idumean  power.  Herod  conquered  them  in  battle, 
and  destroyed  them  by  letting  his  strongest  men  in 
baskets  down  along  the  side  of  the  rocks  into  the 
caves.  The  adventurers,  however,  all  preferred 
death  to  submission ;  one  of  them  killed  his  seven 
children,  calling  one  after  the  other  to  the  mouth 
of  the  cave.  "When  Herod,  by  a  motion  of  his  hand, 
appealed  to  him  to  cease,  he  cursed  the  Idumean 
robber  of  the  Jewish  throne,  and  at  last  killed  also 
his  wife  and  threw  all  the  bodies  down  the  rocky 


22  A    DAY    IX    CAPERNAUM. 

abyss,  tlirovving  himself  down  after  them.  More 
pleasing  memories  are  called  up  by  the  ruins  of 
Irbid,  the  old  Arbel,  which  we  reach  from  this 
defile  by  climbing  briskly  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 
In  this  place,  which  was  once  famous  for  its  grain 
trade  and  its  manufactory  of  twine,  was  born  Nittai, 
the  Arbelite,  so  famous  in  the  history  of  the  San- 
hedrin,  whose  motto  was  :  "  Depart  a  great  dis- 
tance from  a  wricked  neighbor,  and  do  not  make 
common  cause  with  the  evil  ones,  and  hold  fast  to 
the  hope  of  a  righteous  retribution."  Here  on  the 
edge  of  the  hill,  which  looks  into  the  valley  and 
toward  Magdala,  on  one  occasion  Rabbi  Chtja,  who 
had  come  from  Babylon,  and  Rabbi  Simeon  ben- 
Chalefta,  who  was  a  native  of  Sepphoris,  were  walk- 
ing up  and  down  before  sunrise,  and  were  speaking 
of  the  sad  fate  of  their  people,  which  they  had 
suffered  in  tlie  recent  unfortunate  rebellion  of  the 
pseudo-Messiah  Bar-Cocheba  and  in  the  suppression 
of  the  revolution  by  the  Emperor  Hadrian.  Just 
then  '•  the  hind  of  the  morning  dawn  appeared  " — 
(that  is,  the  first  rays  of  the  morning  sun,  which  are 
compared  by  the  Semitic  peoples  to  the  horns  of  deer 
or  of   a  gazelle),  burst  open   in  the   Eastern  sky. 


THE    PLACE.  23 

"^  Birahhi,''''  began  Rabbi  Chija,  stopping  Rabbi 
Simon  with  this  title  of  honor,  and  pointing  to  the 
rising  morning  sun  :  '^  This  is  a  picture  of  the  de- 
liverance of  Israel.  Small  and  unseeming  it  begins, 
as  the  prophet  says  (Micah  7  :  8).  When  I  sit  in 
darkness,  the  Lord  shall  be  a  light  unto  me  ;  but  it 
"will  grow  with  constant  power,  as  Mordecai  sat  first 
in  the  doors  of  the  palace,  in  order  to  hear  news  of 
Esther,  but  afterward  rode  upon  a  proud  steed 
clothed  in  royal  purple,  as  a  light  and  joy  of  his 
people"   (Esth.  2  :  21  ;    8  :  15,   16).      But  has  not 

the  sun  of  deliverance  alreadv  risen  ?      And  have 

-J 

not  actually,  as  Psalm  22  shows,  its  first  rays  been 
tinged  with  red  ?  Therefore  we  again  take  our 
staff  in  hand,  and  after  having  drawn  for  our  mental 
eye  the  picture  of  the  city  and  the  old  Jewish  syna- 
gogue that  stood  where  some  of  these  columns  of 
Arbel  now  lie,  we  descend  into  the  plain. 

We  are  again  in  the  Gennesar  Yalley,  properly 
so-called,  where  in  olden  times,  before  war  after 
war  had  devastated  the  country  around  the  sea,  its 
beauty  was  almost  paradise-like.  Here  it  was 
where  Elisha  ben-Abuja,  of  Jerusalem,  the  talented 
teacher  of  the  law,  is  said  to  have  received  the  germ 


34  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

of  disagreement  with  the  Jewish  reh'gion,  which  was 
ripened  into  the  poisonous  fruit  of  total  apostasy 
by  the  diligent  reading  of  Greek,  and  especially  of 
gnostic  writers.  He  was  a  man  who  had  become 
the  miserable  slave  of  truly  demoniacal  vices  through 
his  insatiable  but  godless  thirst  for  wisdom,  and 
whom  Meir  Letteris,  in  his  beautiful  Hebrew  trans- 
lation of  Goethe's  ^^  Faust,"  has,  by  a  fortunate 
hit,  made  to  take  the  place  of  the  German  Doc- 
tor. If  you  find  a  bird's  nest,  says  a  Mosaic  law 
(Deut.  22  :  6,  7),  you  can  take  the  young,  but  not 
the  mother  ;  but  the  latter  you  must  first  scare  away 
in  order  to  ease  her  sad  loss,  so  that  it  may  be  well 
with  you  and  you  may  live  long.  Elisha,  however, 
on  one  occasion  sat  in  the  Gennesar  Valley,  and  was 
explaining  the  law,  w^hen  the  following  took  place  : 
A  man  ascended  to  the  top  of  a  palm-tree  and  took 
away  a  bird's  nest  with  both  the  mother  bird  and 
her  brood,  and  came  down  in  safety  with  them.  He 
saw  another,  who  had  waited  until  the  Sabbath  had 
ended,  ascend  to  the  top  of  a  palm-tree  and  take  the 
young  birds  while  he  let  the  mother  fly.  The  second 
one,  when  descending,  was  bitten  by  a  serpent  and 
died.   ^'  Where,  now,"  says  Elisha,  '*  is  the  promised 


THE    PLACE.  25 

prosperity  and  long  life,  upon  which  the  latter  could 
count,  but  not  the  former  ?"  Such  and  similar  ex- 
periences caused  him  to  doubt  God's  justice  and 
truth.  His  only  support  was  Rabbi  Meir,  who  did 
not  tire  of  learning  even  from  the  apostate,  and  of 
exhorting  him  to  repentance.  He  interrupted  his 
discourse  in  the  Midrash-house  in  Tiberias,  when  he 
heard  that  Rabbi  Elisha,  notwithstanding  that  it  was 
the  Sabbath,  was  riding  through  the  city,  and  ran 
after  him  to  learn  from  him,  and,  if  possible,  to  bring 
him  to  rights  again.  He  stood  at  the  bedside  of  the 
dying  man,  and  brought  him  who  had  considered 
himself  irredeemably  lost,  at  least  to  tears  ;  and  when 
a  flame  of  fire  burst  out  of  the  grave  of  the  apos- 
tate, the  story  runs  that  in  order  to  extinguish  it, 
Rabbi  Meir  threw  his  mantle  over  it,  and  called 
out  to  the  dead  with  the  words  of  the  Book  of  Ruth  : 
"  Sleep  through  this  night  {i.e.,  of  death),  and 
when  He  (namely,  God)  will  deliver  thee  with  the 
dawn  of  the  morning,  then  may  He  do  so  ;  but  if 
He  will  not  deliver  thee,  then  1,  as  the  Lord  liveth, 
will  deliver  thee.  Rest,  then,  until  the  dawn  of 
the  morning."  This  is  the  same  Rabbi  Meir  who, 
when  he  was  dying  in  Asiah,  said  to  those  standing 


26  A    DAY    lis    CAPERNAUM. 

around  :  ''  Bring  my  coffin  down  to  the  shore  of  the 
sea  that  it  may  be  washed  by  the  waves  which  wash 
the  Holy  Land  ;"  and  in  the  consciousness  that  he 
was  a  saint,  or  even  more,  he  added  :  ^'  Tell  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  land  of  Israel  that  here  their 
anointed  One  (Messiah)  lies. "  But,  enough  of  these 
stories,  that  have  penetrated  even  to  Asia  Minor,  and 
which  are  told  us  bj  the  palm-trees  of  Gennesar. 
We  still  go  on,  for  memories  of  a  Teacher  invite  us 
who  had  a  greater  right  to  such  an  exalted  con- 
sciousness than  had  Rabbi  Meir. 

The  way  is  charming.  Oleander  trees  in  blossom 
cover  the  road  on  the  right  and  on  the  left  like 
wreaths  of  roses.  "With  their  fragrance  is  mingled 
the  exquisite  aroma  of  the  white  blossoms  of  the 
nebek.  From  the  inclosures  of  the  gardens  and 
melon-fields  we  see  the  smiling  opuntias,  which  are 
either  native  here  or  have  been  brought  from 
America,  and  which  look  like  flickering  flames  of 
fire  with  their  large  green  leaves  surrounded  by  the 
yellow  blossoms.  And  to  our  right  we  hear  the 
soft  murmuring  of  the  sea,  in  which  the  azure 
heavens  and  the  golden  sun  are  reflected.  Filled 
with  such  feelings,  we,  after  a  walk  of  a  good  quar- 


THE    PLACK.  27 

ter  of  an  hour,  come  to  "  Ain-el-micdaitwara,^'^ 
liidden  behind  tlie  trees  and  bushes  and  inclosed  by 
a  low  round  wall.  It  is  the  large  basin  of  a  foun- 
tain, beautiful  and  full  of  fish,  wliich,  after  water- 
ing the  plain,  empties  into  the  sea  ;  and  in  order  to 
secure  a  bird's-eye  view  of  this  Gennesar  Yalley, 
we  cannot  deny  ourselves  the  pleasure  of  ascending 
the  hill  that  rises  behind  this  fountain.  Arriving 
at  the  top,  we  are  not  a  little  surprised  to  see  a  man 
sitting  at  the  outer  edge  of  the  hill.  The  long  black 
coat  of  taifeta  tells  us  at  once  that  it  is  a  Polish 
Jew  ;  the  long  white,  blue-edged  tallith,  which  he 
has  thrown  over  him  (and  which  has  a  golden 
border  above  where  it  lies  upon  the  head),  shows 
that  he  is  praying  ;  and,  as  he  is  holding  this  prayer- 
veil  over  his  breast,  he  looks  neither  to  the  right 
nor  to  the  left,  but  only  directly  in  front  of  him 
toward  the  sea.  1  try  to  wait  until  he  has  com- 
pleted his  prayer,  but  as  he  never  seems  to  end,  1 
approach  him,  and  touch  him  on  the  shoulder,  and 
salute  him  with  the  words  :  ''  Peace  be  unto  you, 
and  unto  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  peace  !"  He 
springs  up  joyfully,  and,  after  he  has  looked  at  us 
steadily  for  a  few  moments,  he  says,  hesitatingly  : 


28  A    DAY    IN"    CAPERNAUM. 

''  Are  yon  cliildreii  of  my  people  ?"  His  eyes  be- 
neatli  his  bushy  brows,  whicli  are  as  white  as  his 
beard,  look  at  us  so  confidence-inspiring  and  so 
full  of  intense  contemplation,  that  I  feel  tempted 
to  embrace  him,  and  cry  out  enthusiastically  : 
^'  'No  ;  but  we  are  friends  of  Israel,  and  those  who 
look  and  long  for  the  consolation  of  Jerusalem. 
And  because  we  are  such,  and  consider  every  inch 
of  the  Holy  Land  of  great  importance,  you  must 
tell  us  why  you  are  sitting  here  ;  why  you  are 
praying  here,  and  what  you  are  gazing  at  ?"  ''It 
is  a  great  secret, "  he  says,  ''which  you  desire  to 
know  ;  but  I  will  not  keep  it  from  you,  for  God 
has  brought  us  together  and  you  have  opened  my 
heart.  I  have  been  for  fifty  years  the  Rabbi  of  a 
congregation  in  Yolhynia,  and  have  written  noth- 
ing, but  have  read  and  investigated  all  the  more. 
Since  the  days  of  my  boyhood,  when  I  began  to 
read  Rashi  on  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Targums  and 
the  Talmuds,  no  story  of  the  ancient  records  has  so 
fascinated  me  and  filled  my  mind  as  that  of  the 
fountain  of  Miriam  {heerdh  shel  Mirjam).  After  1 
had  come  as  a  pilgrim  here  to  Tiberias,  in  order  to 
die  at  the  bosom  of  my  home  and  to  be  buried  in 


THE    PLACE.  29 

the  sacred  soil,  my  first  question  was,  Where  is  the 
fountain  of  Miriam  ?  Kobody  knew  it,  or  they 
gave  me  false  information,  because  they  did  not 
want  to  appear  to  be  ignorant.  But,  as  the  Jerusa- 
lem Talmud  says,  that  he  who  would  find  it  must 
stand  in  the  middle  door  of  the  old  synagogue  of 
Scrugnin  and  look  straight  before  him,  I  asked  the 
Jews  and  the  Nazarenes  and  the  Ishmaelites,  Where 
is  Serugnin  ?  But  they  all  answered  that  they  had 
never  heard  of  a  place  with  such  a  name.  I  then 
concluded  never  to  rest  until  I  had  found  the  mys- 
terious fountain  ;  and  there  is  no  favorable  outlook 
above  on  the  hills  and  below  in  the  valley  where  I 
have  not  stood  for  a  long  time,  and  inquiringly 
have  looked  toward  heaven,  and  have  searchingly 
gazed  out  upon  the  sea.  I  know  of  all  the  marks 
of  identification  :  a  small  block  of  rocks,  shaped 
like  a  beehive,  roimd,  perforated  like  a  sieve.  But 
it  lasted  a  long  time  before  I  finally  saw  in  reality 
the  realization  of  my  life's  dream,  and  enigma  and 
mystery  before  me.  It  was  on  the  first  of  Elul,  last 
year,  when  the  waters,  in  consequence  of  continued 
droughts,  were  at  a  low  stage.  See,  he  said,  taking 
us  to  the  edge  of  the  hill  where  he  had  been  sitting. 


30  A    DAY    IK    CAPERNAUM, 

the  rock  itself  at  the  present  stage  of  the  water  is 
hidden  from  view,  but  there,  a  little  on  this  side  of 
the  middle  current,  where  the  Jordan  water  in  min- 
gling w^ith  tlie  sea  creates  a  small  eddj,  and  some- 
times throws  up  bubbles,  there  is  the  fountain  of 
Miriam  the  prophetess — Peace  be  to  her  !' ' 

We  must  here  add  by  way  of  explanation  that  the 
fountain  of  Miriam  cannot  be  known  to  the  ordinary 
Bible  reader,  because  it  is  the  creation  of  fable. 
We  read  in  Scripture  that  when  Miriam  died  at 
Kadesh-Barnea,  the  people  began  to  murmur  for 
water  (N^um.  20  :  1,  2),  and  elsewhere  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, that  the  people  were  in  a  miraculous  manner 
supplied  with  water  from  the  rocks.  Fable  has 
drawn  the  conclusion  from  this,  that  on  account  of 
the  services  rendered  by  Miriam  to  the  children  of 
Israel  during  the  forty  years  in  the  desert,  she  w^as 
accompanied  over  hill  and  valley  with  a  rolling  rock 
that  constantly  threw  out  water.  To  this  Miriam 
fountain,  which  is  represented  to  have  been  taken 
away  from  the  people  a  short  time  after  the  death 
of  Miriam,  and  then  to  have  been  given  to  them 
again,  are  referred  the  words  in  Num.  21  :  17, 
*'  Then  sang  Israel  this  song,   Spring  up,  O  well, 


THE    PLACE.  31 

sing  unto  it  !"  At  tlie  deatli  of  Moses  this  foun- 
tain disappeared,  God  hid  it  in  the  middle  of  the 
Sea  of  Tiberias,  but  in  such  a  manner  that  he  who 
looked  northward  toward  the  sea  from  the  top  of 
the  hill  of  Jishimon,  in  the  country  of  Moab,  could 
always  recognize  it  in  the  shape  of  a  small  sieve. 
This  storj  is  very  old,  is  widely  spread,  and  has  im- 
pressed itself  so  deeply  upon  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple that  it  is  considered  as  a  special  proof  of  piety 
to  have  seen  a  Miriam  fountain  at  this  or  that  phice. 

''  But,"  I  ask  my  honest  old  friend,  '^  why  are 
you  sitting  here  covered  with  your  tallith,  and  are 
looking  so  steadfastly  toward  this  ^Miriam  fountain, 
which  you  think  you  have  discovered  ?"  "  Have 
you  ever  been  in  Merom  ?"  he  asks.  "  Yes,"  I 
said,  ''and  we  have  there  stood  at  the  grave  of 
Rabbi  Simeon  bar-Jochai."  "  Then  you  will 
know,"  he  continued,  "  that  the  Caballa  (tradition) 
says,  that  here  where  the  deliverance  from  Egypt 
came  to  a  close  in  the  sinking  of  the  fountain-rock, 
the  future  salvation  will  begin!"  "Do  you 
know,"  I  said,  "  that  the  Miriam  fountain  is  also 
mentioned  in  the  holy  writings  of  the  Christians  ?" 

You  are  mistaken,"  he  cried  ;  "  the  Sea  of  Gali- 


a 


32  A    DAY   IN"    CAPERNAUM. 

lee  is  mentioned  in  the  Gospels,  but  not  tlie  fountain 
of  Miriam."  ''  But  the  Apostle  Paul,"  I  said,  in 
return,  "  who  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  Habbi  Gamaliel, 
the  grandson  of  Hillel,  says  in  his  first  letter  to  the 
Corinthian  Christians  (10  :  1-4)  :  '  Our  fathers  who 
passed  under  the  cloud  through  the  sea  all  drank 
the  same  spiritual  drink,  for  they  drank  of  a  spirit- 
ual rock  that  followed  them  ; '  and  to  this  the 
apostle  adds  :  '  And  the  rock,  this  Miriam  foun- 
tain, was  Christ,'  the  One  of  whom  Isaiah  (28  :  16) 
says  :  ^  Behold,  I  lay  in  Zion  for  a  foundation  a 
stone,  a  tried  stone,  a  precious  stone  of  a  sure 
foundation.'  But  now  we  must  part  ;  you  are 
searching  for  the  signs  of  the  Mosaic  deliverance, 
and  we  are  following  in  the  wake  of  the  Messianic 
dehverance,  which  has  made  its  beginning  in  truth 
and  reality  at  this  God-chosen  sea. " 

After  we  have  left  him,  it  is  a  question  whether 
we  want  to  take  a  look  at  the  large  perennial  Itabadija 
Brook,  which,  like  the  Mudauwara  Brook,  empties 
into  the  Sea  of  Gennesaret.  It  runs  only  a  little  to 
the  north  from  here  ;  but,  as  there  are  no  historic 
memories  connected  with  it,  we  will  continue  our 
journey  on  the  lower  road,  which   runs  along  the 


THE    PLACE.  33 

foot  of  tlie  liills,  and  there  where  thesfe  again  ap- 
proach ahnost  to  the  very  edge  of  the  water  and  the 
valley  comes  to  an  end,  we  come  to  an  old  dilapi- 
dated halting-place,  built  of  basaltic  tufa,  from 
which  the  Damascus  road  branches  off  up  the  hill. 
It  is  the  Clian  Minje.  Having  gone  from  here  to  the 
Ain-et-Tin  (the  fig- fountain),  near  by,  whose  name 
is  derived  from  a  large  old  fig-tree  standing  near, 
we  find,  after  proceeding  two  and  a  half  hours,  that 
the  smaragd  carpet  of  luxuriant  green  surrounding 
this  beautiful  fountain  is  so  inviting,  that  we  must 
take  a  rest  here  and  refresh  ourselves  by  the  sea  air 
which  has  been  mixed  with  the  fragrance  of  this 
excellent  pasture  land.  South  of  the  Chan  we  find 
some  ruins  which  reach  down  to  the  shore  of  the 
sea.  Evidently  an  ancient  town  was  situated  here. 
Might  it  have  been  Capernaum  ?  Robinson  and  many 
who  follow  him  are  of  this  opinion.  Sepp  thinks  he 
has  proved  by  irrefutable  arguments  that  Minje  is 
to  be  connected  with  the  word  Minim,  or  heretics, 
which  is  the  name  the  Jews  gave  to  the  Christians. 
Keim,  in  his  "  Life  of  Christ  "  (1873),  accepts  this 
view.  It  is  true  that  Capernaum  of  all  other  places 
could   have   been  called    Minim.      But   the  name 


34  A    DAY   Iiq^    CAPERKAUM. 

*'  Minim  city"  is  nowhere  mentioned,  and,  in  fact, 
tlie  name  Minje  is  applied  to  this  Chan  first  in  the 
year  1189,  in  an  Arabic  biography  of  Saladin.  The 
word  Minje  is  the  Greek  Mone  or  Moni  (stopping- 
place  or  station),  which  through  the  medium  of  the 
Coptic  passed  into  the  Arabic.  But  to  look  for 
Capernaum  near  Chan  Minje  is  to  be  rejected,  for 
this  reason,  that  the  unanimous  testimony  of  tra- 
dition claims  that  the  whole  western  coast  of  the 
Sea  of  Gennesaret  belonged  to  the  tribe  of  Naph- 
tali.  But,  according  to  Matt.  1  :  13,  Capernaum 
lay  on  the  border  of  Zebulun  and  Naphtali,  and 
hence,  farther  north,  there  where,  on  the  northern 
edge  of  the  sea,  the  districts  of  Zebulun  meet  the 
districts  of  Naphtali  extending  down  from  the  hills 
of  Naphtali  and  the  Merom  Sea.  But  some  old  city 
undoubtedly  stood  at  this  Chan.  Some  of  these  peo- 
ple dwelling  around  this  fig- fountain  on  one  occa- 
sion went  in  a  south-westerly  direction  inland  to 
Sepphoris,  in  order  to  make  a  visit  of  congratula- 
tion to  a  famous  man  at  that  place  ;  and  it  is  nar- 
rated that  Rabbi  Simeon  ben-Chalefta,  whom  we 
mentioned  farther  up,  when  speaking  of  Arbel,  was 
surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  unruly  children  at  the 


THE    PLACE.  35 

city  gate  of  Sepphoris.  These  would  not  let  liim 
go  until  he  had  danced  in  their  presence.  One  of 
my  companions  exclaims  :  "  This  fig-tree  reminds 
me  of  the  story  of  Hadrian  and  the  man  a  hundred 
years  old.  The  emperor  on  one  occasion  was  trav- 
elling in  the  district  of  Tiberias,  and  called  out  to  an 
old  man  who  was  engaged  in  planting  young  trees  ; 
'  Old  man,  old  man,  work  of  that  sort  should  be 
done  in  the  morning,  and  not  in  the  evening,  of 
life  !  '  The  old  man  said  :  '  I  was  a  worker  in  my 
young  days,  and  will  continue  to  be  such  in  my  old 
years  ;  the  result  lies  in  God's  hands.'  '  Do  you, 
then,  believe,'  says  the  emperor,  '  that  you  will 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  these  trees  ? '  ^  Possibly, '  he 
said,  ^  if  God  considers  me  worthy  of  this  ;  if  not, 
then  I  am  only  doing  for  my  descendants  what  my 
ancestors  did  for  me.'  Thereupon  the  emperor 
exclaimed  :  ^  If  you  live  to  gather  the  fruit,  I  com- 
mand you  to  inform  me  of  it. '  After  several  years 
the  old  man  with  a  basket  of  figs  appeared  at  the 
imperial  palace.  Hadrian  commanded  him  to  sit 
down  upon  a  golden  chair,  and  ordered  his  basket 
to  be  emptied,  and  to  be  filled  with  gold  coins, 
saying  to   his  astonished   servants  :   '  He  has  lion- 


36  A    DAY    IN    CAPERI^AUM. 

ored  his  Creator  ;  shall  I  not  honor  him  1  '  But 
when  another  man  in  this  neighborhood,  urged  on 
by  his  wife,  also  brought  the  emperor  a  basket  of 
fine  figs  in  the  hope  of  a  royal  reward,  the  emperor 
gave  orders  that  the  bold-faced  man  should  stand 
all  day  long  at  the  entrance  to  his  palace,  and  tliat 
every  one  who  entered  cr  left  the  palace  should 
throw  one  of  his  figs  into  his  face.  When  he 
returned,  his  greedy  and  ambitious  wife  did  not 
even  pity  him,  but  scornfully  said  :  '  Go  and  tell 
your  mother  how  glad  you  were  that  they  were 
only  figs  and  not  paradise  apples,  and  that,  too, 
ripe  figs  ;  for,  if  this  had  not  been  the  case,  you 
would  have  presented  a  pretty  appearance  when 
you  returned  home  ! '  .  .  .  But,  brethren,  we  are 
not  here  to  tell  pretty  stories  and  look  at  beautiful 
scenery.  We  are  here  to  hunt  for  the  Jesus  city, 
the  Messiah  city,  the  city  on  the  sea  near  to  the 
borders  of  the  Gentiles,  the  place  where  the  words 
of  the  prophet  Isaiah  (9  :  2)  were  fulfilled  :  "  The 
people  that  walked  in  darkness  have  seen  a  great 
light  :  they  that  dwell  in  the  land  of  the  shadow  of 
death,  upon  them  hath  the  light  shined. " 

There  is  no  road  farther  along  the  shore  which 


THE    PLACE.  37 

we  could  follow  ;  there  is  only  an  old  aqueduct, 
wliicli  in  older  times  helped  to  water  the  northern 
portion  of  the  Plain  of  Gennesar,  or  gutter  cut 
into  the  rocks  and  running  along  the  shore.  We 
will  then  take  our  course  over  the  rocky  hills  which 
close  in  the  Yalley  of  Gennesar  to  the  north. 
On  our  right  we  see  the  motion  of  the  blue  sea,  and 
before  us  in  the  distance  Mount  Hermon  raises  his 
white  peak  in  the  blue  atmosphere.  The  magnifi- 
cent view  fills  our  souls  with  awe.  After  a  walk  of 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  we  have  reached  the  low  ground 
of  Tabigha,  with  its  fountains  of  water  covered 
with  reeds,  which  flow  in  several  arms  into  the  sea. 
After  we  have  crossed  these  watercourses,  we  be- 
come more  talkative,  and  the  conversation  turns  on 
that  which  the  Talmud  and  Midrash  say  about 
Capernaum.  It  is  considered  as  a  chief  seat  of  the 
^'J/^mm"  {i.e.^  heretics,  or  Jewish  Christians), 
and  what  the  Jews  say  concerning  these  is  nothing 
better  than  were  the  stories  which  the  heathen  in- 
vented about  the  early  Christians.  One,  at  least,  of 
these  fictions  of  the  Jews  is  tragico- comical.  Clia- 
nina,  the  nephew  of  Rabbi  Joshua,  it  is  said,  went 
to  Capernaum.     The  Christians  of  that  place  then 


38  A    DAY   IN   CAPERNAUM. 

persuaded  him  to  ride  tlirougli  the  city  upon  an  ass 
on  the  Sabbath  day.  Having  regained  his  thoughts, 
he  fled  to  liis  father's  brother,  Rabbi  Joshua,  who 
anointed  him  with  a  salve  and  cured  him  of  the 
witchcraft,  but  said  to  him  :  "  Since  tlie  ass  of 
those  wicked  people  has  betrayed  you  to  act  fool- 
ishly you  can  no  longer  dwell  in  the  Holy  Land." 
He  then  went  to  Babylon  and  died  there  in  peace. 
The  '*  ass  of  the  wicked  ones"  which  had  brayed  at 
him  was  the  preaching  concerning  the  crucified  One. 
The  nearness  to  our  goal  hastens  our  steps.  In  one 
hour  more  we  are  on  the  great  waste  of  ruins 
known  as  Tell  Hum,  and  pass  by  some  oleander 
trees,  and  go  through  grass  and  undergrowth  to  the 
surprisingly  grand  ruins  of  old  Capernaum.  The 
ruins  of  Chorazin,  in  a  westerly  direction  among 
the  hills,  are  equally  grand,  and  those  of  Gamala  {el- 
llusn)  yonder  on  the  other  side  are  considerably 
grander  ;  but  the  black  basalt  blocks  and  white 
rocks  which  lie  scattered  here  in  Tell  Hum  awak- 
ened much  stronger  and  more  vivid  impressions. 
For  here  it  was  that  the  One  sent  of  God,  without  an 
equal,  made  His  abiding-place,  in  order  to  proclaim 
from  this  strong  place  the  religion  of  love,  amid  the 


THE    PLACE.  39 

miracles  of  love,  for  the  deliverance  from  the  bonds 
of  the  old  covenant.  How  terribly  have  His  threats 
against  the  ungrateful  and  unbelieving  city  been 
fulfilled  !  The  black  and  the  white  stones  of  the 
ruined  houses  are  like  the  memorial  stones  of  those 
wdio  have  descended  into  the  region  of  the  dead 
(Matt.  11  :  23)  ;  and  the  black,  miserable  Arab  huts 
on  this  field  of  the  dead  remind  us  of  the  words  of 
the  prophet  (Isa.  5  :  17)  •:  *'  The  waste  places  of  the 
fat  ones  shall  wanderers  eat."  We,  however,  in 
this  region  of  the  dead  recall  to  mind  the  Prince  of 
Life  who  once  lived  here,  and  who  thereby  exalted 
Capernaum  to  the  skies.  Here,  yes  here,  we  cry 
as  with  one  voice.  We  will  tarry  and  will  not  go 
farther,  until  these  ruins  have  again  been  built  up 
in  our  souls,  and  until  we  have  seen  Him  who  once 
dwelt  here,  walked  among  these  houses,  and  in  this 
synagogue  revealed  Himself  by  His  wisdom  and  His 
power  to  perform  miracles,  as  the  Founder  of  a  new 
era. 


II. 

THE   MOKNING. 

^*  Kow  we  are  here,  my  father,"  said  a  little  ten- 
year  old  girl  who  was  leading  an  elderly  man  by 
the  hand.  And  when  she  had  gone  a  few  steps 
farther,  she  cried  out  :  "  How  fortunate  we  are  to 
find  the  seat  in  front  of  the  house  still  unoccupied. " 
In  saying  this  she  hastened  toward  the  bench,  and 
drew  her  father  after  her.  Reaching  it,  she  pressed 
him  to  sit  down  upon  the  seat,  saying  :  ^'  God  be 
thanked  who  has  helped  us  so  far  !"  "  But,"  said 
he,  '^  is  this  really  the  house  where  He  lives?" 
''  How  could  I  be  mistaken  in  it,  since  I  have  often 
forced  myself  through  the  crowds  up  to  this  very 
house  in  order  to  hear  the  blessed  words  of  His 
mouth."  ^' But,"  he  continued,  "is  He  at  home 
and  not  abroad?"  "We  must  hope,"  said  she, 
"  that  we  have  been  rightly  informed.  But  remain 
seated  here,  and  I  will  go  and  look  around  a  Httle. " 

It   was  the  time  of  the  change  of  the  middle 


THE    MORNING.  41 

night-watch  to  the  third  ;  the  starry  heavens  glit- 
tered in  all  the  glories  of  a  diadem  enshrined  in 
diamonds  and  precious  stones.  The  little  girl  took 
her  stand  some  distance  from  the  house,  whose  out- 
lines were  clearly  seen  in  the  starlight,  and  looked 
intently  with  her  large  eyes,  particularly  toward  the 
one  room  upon  the  flat  roof  (the  upper  room), 
which  was  dimly  lighted.  When  she  saw  the  shad- 
ow of  a  figure  appear  at  the  perforated  window, 
she  uttered  a  cry  and  sank  upon  her  knees,  and  bent 
her  face  to  the  ground.  In  this  prayerful  attitude 
she  continued,  until  the  voice  of  her  father,  crying, 
"  Peninnah,  Peninnah  !  why  are  you  leaving  me 
alone  ?"  again  aroused  her. 

In  the  mean  while  the  space  in  front  of  the  house 
was  becoming  more  and  more  alive.  From  differ- 
ent directions  were  heard  in  the  silent  night  air  the 
dull  sound  of  the  steps  and  voices  of  new-comers. 
Here  came  a  man  carrying  his  child  upon  his  back, 
whose  suffering  head  was  hanging  down  over  his 
shoulder  ;  there  came  two  who  were  carrjn'ng  a 
third  in  a  hammock,  and  as  they,  before  they  bring 
him  to  the  much-longed-for  house,  let  him  down 
upon  the  ground  once  more,  he  is  heard  lamenting 


42  A    DAY    IN"   CAPERNAUM. 

about  the  hardness  of  his  bed.  From  the  east 
side  of  the  sea,  where  tlie  road  which  comes  from 
Damascus  and  goes  to  the  coast  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean Sea  runs  along  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  a  camel  is 
seen  coming,  accompanied  by  an  older  and  a  younger 
man,  and  which,  in  the  woman's  saddle,  is  carrying 
a  thickly- veiled  and  decrepit  woman.  Led  and 
carried,  more  and  more  sick  persons  arrive,  until 
the  place  in  front  of  the  house  has  become  like  a 
hospital  in  which  the  cries  of  pain  uttered  by  th« 
sufferers,  mingling  with  the  subdued  and  often 
rather  rough  voices  of  their  attendants,  create  a 
dull  din.  Peninnah  was  compelled  to  use  all  the 
lire  of  her  eyes  to  retain  the  seat  for  herself  and  her 
father.  All  tried,  sometimes  with  threats  and 
pushes,  to  secure  a  place  near  the  entrance  door. 
And  as  often  as  a  sign  of  life  was  visible  within  the 
house,  all  became  excited  and  the  noise  was  sud- 
denly hushed. 

The  shadow  which  Peninnah  had  seen  at  the 
window  was  not  His  shadow.  When  the  early 
dawn  took  a  reddish  hue,  a  man  in  a  blue  tallith 
(cloak)  and  a  pale  red  tunic  came  down  from  the 
upper  part  of  the  city,  and  passed  through  the  nar- 


THE   MORNING.  43 

row  streets.  His  countenance  was  as  pale  as  the 
sudor  which  covered  His  chin  and  forehead.  The 
night  watchman,  when  he  saw  Him,  stepped  rev- 
erently to  the  side,  and  trembled  through  and 
through  when,  with  a  gentle  greeting,  His  eyes, 
filled  with  love  and  deep  earnestness,  met  his.  After 
standing  for  a  while,  as  if  spellbound,  he  followed 
Him  at  a  distance  as  quietly  as  possible.  He  whom 
he  followed  hastened,  or  rather  moved  along  with 
inaudible  steps.  He  was  plainly  and  poorly  rather 
than  richly  clothed  ;  He  walked  rather  bent  forward 
than  perfectly  erect ;  He  made  the  impression  of  a 
man  who  in  his  heart  was  carrying  a  heavy  burden, 
but  who  was  carrying  it  willingly  and  not  by 
compulsion.  The  gentle  majesty  of  an  exalted  suf- 
ferer hovered  over  Him.  As  He  turned  the  corner 
and  saw  the  multitude  of  sufferers,  He,  indeed,  for 
a  moment  as  it  were  recoiled  ;  but  looking  upward 
■with  a  countenance  drawing  in  and  sending  forth 
heavenly  light,  He  was  at  once  again  collected  and 
stepped  forward.  The  multitude,  seeing  Him, 
turned  in  an  instant  from  the  house  and  toward 
Him,  and  all  stretched  out  their  arm.s  in  petition  and 
intercession  to  Him.      ^'  Blessed  be  He  that  cometh 


44  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

ill  tlie  nuiiie  of  the  Lord  !"  cried  out  an  old  man, 
wlio  stood  in  front,  who  had  himself  experienced 
the  healing  power  of  this  miraculous  Physician,  and 
now  Vv^^s  constantly  bringing  other  sick  people  to 
Ilim.  .  Out  of  almost  fifty  throats  a  variety  of  greet- 
ings met  the  longed-for  Helper,  accompanied  with 
gestures  imploring  assistance.  Here  one  voice  cried 
out  :  "  liaUbenu^''  (O  thou,  our  Rabbi)  ;  there  an- 
other, ^^  Mard7ia^''  (Our  Lord)  ;  or  another,  '^  Shel- 
icha  Dishmaja^^  (Messenger  of  Heaven)  ;  another, 
'^  Mikwe  Israel  "  (Hope  of  Israel),  and  the  suffer- 
ing woman  on  the  camel,  whom  father  and  brother 
had  brouglit  from  Bethsaida  Julias,  stretched  out 
lier  arms  from  behind  her  veils,  and  in  a  hoarse  and 
shrill  voice  criod  :  '^  Malcha  Meshicha^^  (O  King 
Messiah).  Her  cry  sounded  like  the  voice  of  spirits 
in  this  confusion.  The  impression  this  all  made 
upon  Hiin  was  clearly  confusing.  With  a  motion  of 
the  hand  and  a  ruddy  gleam  overspreading  LLis  coun- 
tenance, He  quieted  the  commotion  and  restored 
silence.  Those  of  the  sick  who  still  had  control  of 
their  limbs  then  threw  themselves  in  a  row  upon 
their  knees  before  the  door  of  the  house,  but  the 
path  which  had  been  left  for  Him  to  pass  through 


THE    MOIWING.  45 

between  them  was  very  narrow,  because  all  were 
anxious  to  get  as  near  to  Ilira  as  possible.  He  passed 
through  slowly  and  only  by  steps,  and  His  w^hole 
appearance  showed  the  intensity  of  His  feelings  and 
His  work.  To  the  right  and  to  the  left  they  greedily 
caught  hold  of  the  ends  of  His  tallith  ;  they  kissed 
them  and  drew  them  as  near  as  possible  to  the  local- 
ity of  their  suffering.  But,  in  spite  of  this  pressing 
and  pulling  from  both  sides,  His  person  was  not 
molested  by  any  overboldness.  ]n  reverence-inspir- 
ing majesty  He  stood  there,  attracting,  and  at  the 
same  time  overawing,  in  the  midst  of  a  crowd  of 
people,  "Whenever  His  hands,  which  He  extended 
to  both  sides,  could  not  be  reached  by  any  of  the 
badly  afflicted  farther  off.  He  bent  over  to  him  and 
laid  His  hand  upon  his  own,  and  spoke  some  words 
to  him  in  an  undertone.  The  nearer  Ho  approached 
the  house,  the  greater  became  the  excitement,  espe- 
cially among  those  behind  Him.  The  ecstasy  of 
those  who  felt  a  new  life  coursing  through  their 
members,  and  through  their  souls  as  well  as  through 
their  bodies,  broke  out  in  words  of  exulting  grati- 
tude. And  when  one  raised  his  voice  in  the  words 
of  the  Psalmist  :  ''  Blessed  is  the  Lord,  the  God  of 


•46  A    DAY    IN    CAPEIINALM. 

Israel,  who  alone  doetli  wonders,''  the  whole  niiilti- 
tnde,  as  though  it  were  a  congregation  assembled  in 
the  house  of  worship,  answered  :  ''  Blessed  is  the 
glorious  name  of  His  kingdom  forevermore  !" 

The  nearer  He  came,  the  more  agitated  Peninnah 
became  in  her  expectancy.  Her  form  rose  higher 
and  higher,  and  she  v/atched  every  one  of  His  mo- 
tions w^ith  a  devouring  look.  And  when  the  eyes 
of  the  Lord  fell  upon  the  child,  who  was  standing 
at  the  door  of  the  house  like  a  statue  decorat- 
ing the  entrance,  it  seemed  that  a  glowing  dawn 
w^as  beginning  to  cover  her  pale  face,  and  she 
chanted  with  a  voice  clear  as  silver  :  "  The  Lord 
killeth,  and  maketh  alive  :  He  bringeth  down  to  the 
grave,  and  bringeth  up.  The  Lord  maketh  poor, 
and  maketh  rich  :  He  bringeth  low,  and  He  also 
lifteth  up"  (1  Sam.  2  :  6,  Y).  She  at  first  sang 
almost  tremblingly,  and  only  w^hen  she  saw  no  sign 
of  disapproval  in  His  face,  she  became  firmer  and 
bolder.  "  Is  He  soon  coming  ?"  asks  the  old  man, 
whose  left  hand  was  expectantly  and  tremblingly 
lying  in  the  right  hand  of  his  daughter.  ''  We 
must  wait  yet,"  she  answered  ;  "  but  a  glance 
which    He    has   given    me    promises    us    good." 


THE    MORNING.  47 

^^  Blessed  are  you,  my  danglitcr,"  he  cried  ;  ''  you 
have  the  name  of  Peiiiimah  and  the  lieart  of  Hannah  ; 
your  song  was  to  me  hke  the  voice  of  the  turtle- 
dove which  announces  the  coming  of  spring."  The 
healing  of  the  bhnd  man  seemed  really  destined  to  be 
the  very  last.  Approaching  the  girl,  He  asked  her  : 
"What  is  thy  wish,  Peninnah  ?"  She  answered  : 
"  Lord,  that  -my  father  may  see  Thee  and  Thy 
works."  He  then  took  hold  of  the  old  man  by  the 
back  part  of  his  head,  bent  him  over  nearer  to 
Himself,  and  said,  speaking  toward  his  eyes  : 
"  The  Lord  killeth  and  maketli  alive.  Be  it  unto 
thee  according  to  the  confession  of  thy  daughter  !" 
All  this  had  happened  within  the  space  of  several 
moments,  and  the  hands  of  the  father  and  of  the 
daughter,  outstretched  in  gratitude,  no  longer  reach- 
ed Him,  as  He  had  disappeared  through  the  door, 
which  had  been  unlocked  and  was  only  closed. 
Peter,  behind  the  door,  had,  as  far  as  possible,  been 
a  witness  of  this  early  work  of  the  Lord  in  the 
pursuit  of  His  calling.  But  also  the  words  :  "  O 
heavenly  Guest  of  sinful  mankind,"  with  which  he 
saluted  Him,  scarcely  reached  His  ears,  for  He  has- 
tened through  the -inner  part  of  the  house  toward 


48  A    DAY    IIT    CAPERNAUM. 

the  steps  wliicli  led  to  the  upper  chamber.  Enter- 
ing His  room  there,  He  tottered  to  the  couch  at  tlie 
side  of  the  wall,  and  broke  down  as  under  the  bur- 
den of  the  many  sicknesses  and  sufferings  which  He 
had  taken  upon  Himself  from  the  sufferers. 

The.  sun  was  already  rising  in  full  splendor  ;  the 
birds  were  chirping  in  the  thick  foliage  of  the  mul- 
berry-tree which  covered  the  house  ;  a  thrush  was 
cradling  herself  on  the  highest  limb  of  a  palm- 
tree  that  overshadowed  the  place  like  a  sentinel, 
and  sang  her  morning  hymn  ;  while  below,  at  the 
well,  at  which  the  principal  street  of  the  town,  run- 
ning from  north-west  by  north  toward  south-east  by 
south,  ended,  the  maidens  were  gossiping  about  the 
miraculous  healin2:s  which  had  taken  vlace  in  the 
front  of  the  house  during  the  past  night.  The 
whole  place  was  on  this  day  alive  earlier  than  usual. 
The  rejoicing  of  those  that  had  been  healed  and  of 
their  companions  had  disturbed  many  in  their 
morning  dreams,  and  had  excited  their  curiosity. 
Manj^  of  the  strangers  had  sought  and  found  admis- 
sion at  the  homes  of  their  relatives  and  friends  ; 
and  also  the  owners  of  the  pundics  (inns)  found  to- 
day early  but  welcome  guests.     In  that  house,  how- 


THE    MORNING.  49 

ever,  which  at  that  time  formed  the  spiritual  centre 
and  height  of  Capernaum,  a  deep  silence  prevailed. 
Those  that  lived  there,  although  awake  for  a  long 
time,  moved  around  very  quietly  ;  for  they  knew 
that  the  Master  had  all  night  long  been  watching 
and  praying  in  solitude  ;  and  that,  upon  His  return, 
lie  had  found  much  and  hard  work  to  be  done. 
But  above,  on  the  platform  of  the  house,  Peter 
stood,  some  distance  from  the  parapet,  in  order  not 
to  be  seen  by  anybody  in  the  place  which  had  be- 
come alive  so  early. '  It  was  a  beautiful  morning, 
and  no  air  was  stirring.  Quiet,  like  a  sleeping  child, 
the  sea  lay  there  in  the  lap  of  the  encircling  moun- 
tains whose  peaks  were  gilded  by  the  red  globe  of 
the  rising  sun.  The  waters  rose  and  fell,  like  tlie 
bosom  of  one  breathing  gently,  and  only  occasion- 
ally were  they  agitated  by  the  quick  jump  of  a  fish 
which  was  unwise  enough  to  betray  its  presence  to 
the  osprey.  The  vessels  that  are  sailing  in  the  dis- 
tance look  like  white  specks, -and  only  make  grander 
the  impression  made  by  the  widespread  expanse  of 
water  ;  and  here  and  there  something  glitters  in  the 
air,  appearing  and  disappearing  quickly.  These 
were  the  nets  whicli  the  fishermen  threw  out  of  the 


50  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

rear  end  of  the  boats,  forming  a  wide  circle,  and 
thus  descending  into  the  water.  Peter  had  an  open 
eye  for  this  life  and  activity  in  the  midst  of  the 
silence  reigning  around.  He,  the  active  and  ex- 
perienced fisherman,  knew  this  sea  through  and 
through.  Now,  however,  he  saw  in  it  a  picture  of 
the  great  ocean  of  life,  into  which  he  in  the  future, 
after  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  had  risen  over  it, 
was  to  throw  his  nets.  Then,  looking  up  in  prayer 
to  God,  he  directed  his  eyes  to  the  south,  toward  the 
region  of  the  Dead  Sea,  where,  in  the  Moabitic  and 
Gaditic  regions,  the  terrible  and  steep  fortress 
Machserus  lay,  in  which  the  great  and  much-beloved 
prisoner  was  held,  to  whom  he  owed  the  beginnings 
of  a  better  knowledge.  Turning  his  eyes  away 
again,  he  directed  them  to  Bethsaida,  his  birth- 
place, from  which  he  had  come  with  his  brother  to 
live  in  this  house  of  his  mother-in-law  in  Caper- 
naum ;  and  he  greeted  in  spirit  his  parents  and 
friends  at  that  place,  wishing  them  faith  in  the 
Saviour  of  Israel,  whom  he,  although  unworthy, 
had  been  privileged  to  receive  into  his  family. 
When  he,  then,  as  he  was  about  to  descend,  glanced 
over  the  parapet,  he  saw  that  a  number  of  men  had 


THE    MOIINING.  51 

already  assembled  themselves  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
house,  and  were  waiting  for  the  first  opportunity  to 
hear  the  great  Teacher  ;  and  he  noticed  at  the  same 
time  that  a  scribe  was  engaged  in  angry  discussion 
with  those  around  him.  *^  Why,"  cried  he,  "are 
you  seeking  instruction  and  help  from  this  unau- 
thorized person,  and  not  from  those  who  are  ap- 
pointed for  this,  our  Rabbis  and  priests  ?  Be 
warned  :  He  heals  the  bodies,  but  He  poisons  the 
souls.  He  is  a  Shed  (demon)  in  human  form,  and 
will  drag  you  with  Himself  into  the  pit  out  of 
which  He  has  come  forth."  Shuddering  and  en- 
raged, Peter  heard  this.  With  gre&t  difficulty  he 
restrained  himself  from  hurling  a  suitable  answer 
down  at  the  man,  and  in  silence  he  descended  to 
the  room  in  which  the  members  of  his  family  were 
assembled  for  the  morning  meal  and  were  awaiting 
him. 

It  was  a  one-story  house,  but  by  no  means  poor 
in  character.  The  three  sides  of  the  plastered,  four- 
cornered  centre  room,  which  we  will  call  the  court, 
contained  living-rooms  and  storage-places.  Above, 
in  the  upper  room,  was  the  place  for  guests.  When 
Peter  had  entered   the  family  room   on   the    first 


02  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

floor,  he  immediately  asked  :  '^  Has  He  not  yet 
made  His  appearance  ?"  And  when  this  was  an- 
swered in  the  negative,  he  turned  to  his  mother-in- 
law  and  said  :  "  Please  go  up,  beloved,  and  knock 
softly  at  the  door,  and  see  if  you  can  persuade  Him 
to  come  down  ;  for  He  certainly  is  in  need  of  bodily 
nourishment  after  such  exertions,  in  order  to  con- 
tinue His  labors."  When  she  had  ascended  and 
asked  for  admission,  she  said  to  Him  :  "  Lord,  we 
would  not  like  to  break  bread  unless  Thou  hast 
pronounced  the  blessing."  He  thereupon  arose, 
and  allowed  her  to  precede  Him,  while  He  fol- 
lowed. The  table  companions  consisted  of  Peter, 
his  w^ife,  his  mother-in-law,  his  brother  Andrew, 
and  their  exalted  Guest.  "  Now  relate  something, 
My  brethren,"  He  said,  while  they  were  eating. 
Those  present  hesitated  and  halted.  ''  Have  you 
heard  nothing  from  Machgerus  ?"  He  continued 
asking.  "  O  my  Lord,"  they  cried,  ^' the  thick 
walls  of  that  fortress  can  as  little  be  penetrated  as 
the  gates  of  hell  !"  "  But  I,"  continued  Andrew, 
"  may,  perhaps,  relate  what  I  saw  yesterday  at  the 
toll-house  of  Matthew.  A  Syrian  merchant  car- 
avan, crossing   the  Jordan    up   there   at  Belhsaida 


THE    MORNli^G.  53 

Julias,  halted  there,  and  one  of  the  men,  who  lives 
at  Edessa,  related  that  King  Abgar  had  commanded 
him  and  others  to  make  closer  inquiries  concerning 
tlie  miracle-worker  and  Galilean  teacher."  ^'  Yes," 
answered  Jesns,  "  Jerusalem  is  the  place  where  the 
Messiah  shall  be  exalted  as  a  standard  for  the  na- 
tions, but  Syria  is  the  land  which  will  be  the  first 
to  rally  to  this  standard.  But,  tell  Me,  what  was 
that  quarreling  which  I  heard  so  early  this  morning 
under  My  window  ?"  Peter  told  the  affair — as 
much  as  he  had  heard  of  it.  ''  There,  you  see," 
He  said,  "  what  I  have  to  expect.  We  are  on  all 
sides  surrounded  by  the  spies  of  the  Sanhedrin  and 
of  the  Pharisee  crowd  of  Jerusalem. ' '  Amid  such 
conversation  the  meal  was  finished.  He  then  arose, 
went  to  the  entrance  of  the  house,  opened  the  door, 
and  addressed  the  people  who  were  there  assembled 
in  considerable  number  :  ^'  Do  ye  desire  to  hear  the 
Word  of  life,  then  enter,  as  Isaiah  hath  said  :  '  Ho, 
every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters,  and 
he  that  hath  no  money  ;  come  ye,  buy,  and  eat ; 
yea,  come,  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money  and 
without  price  '  "  (Isa.  55  :  1). 

The  house  was  not  a  grand  one,  but  it  was  roomy 


54:  A    DAY    IN"    CAPERNAUM. 

and  well  arranged.  After  passing  throngli  the  en- 
trance-door they  came  into  the  court,  which  in  this 
case  was  not  covered  with  cloth  or  with  vines,  as 
was  usually  the  case  ;  but  it  was  roofed  over.  After 
Jesus  bad  invited  those  assembled  around  the  door 
to  enter,  He  returned  before  the  people  that  fol- 
lowed into  the  court,  and  took  His  position  in  front 
of  the  cistern — i.e.^  the  marble  water-basin  in  the 
middle  of  the  court — and  preached  the  Word  of  God 
to  the  multitude  that  was  fast  becoming  a  solid  mass 
around  Him,  concerning  the  salvation  that  had  been 
promised  and  now  had  appeared.  The  crowd  be- 
came greater  and  greater  in  the  course  of  time,  so 
that  the  first  floor  and  in  front  of  the  house  was  en- 
tirely filled  with  people.  Just  then  four  men  made 
their  appearance,  of  whom  two  and  two,  relieving 
each  other,  were  carrying  a  totally  lamed  man  lying 
in  a  hammock.  It  could  be  seen  that  they  had 
travelled  a  great  distance,  and  had  already  borne 
the  heat  of  the  morning's  toil.  They  came  too  late 
to  gain  admittance  to  Jesus  ;  it  was  absolutely  im- 
possible to  force  a  passage  through  this  mass  of  men. 
They  accordingly  went  around  the  house,  and  for- 
tunately found  a   ladder   set   up  against  the  rear. 


THE    MORNING.  55 

wliicli  was  just  high  enough  to  take  them  up  on  the 
platform.  When  the  sick  man's  consent  had  been 
gained  to  have  himself  transported  up  this  ladder, 
thej  tied  him  tight  to  the  bed  with  the  ropes 
of  the  hammock.  Two  of  them  went  above,  and 
the  two  others  lifted  and  raised  the  sick  man  up  so 
far  that  those  above  could  draw  him  up  the  rest  of 
the  distance.  After  he  had  reached  the  top,  the 
other  two  also  went  up  on  the  roof.  When  they 
were  all  up,  one  of  them  descended  a  few  steps 
down  the  roof -steps,  in  order  to  see  what  was  to  be 
done.  He  lieard  from  here  the  voice  of  Jesus.  In 
deep  silence  the  multitude  stood  around  Him  ;  His 
rich  voice  filled  the  room.  The  effect  of  His  words 
was  electric  and  chained  the  attention,  for  His 
whole  soul  was  in  them,  and  His  countenance  and 
His  personality  spoke  with  them.  The  one  who  had 
descended  listened  and  looked  and  forgot  every- 
thing else.  The  sick  man  began  to  ask  impatiently  : 
''  What  is  to  become  of  me  ?"  When  the  three 
had  called  their  companion  back  again,  all  four 
agreed  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  take  the  sick 
man  down  these  narrow  stairs.  '^  Nothing  else  can 
be  done,"  they  said,  '^  except  to  take  off  the  roof, 


5G  A    DAY    IX    CAPERN'AUil. 

and  to  let  liim  down  in  that  way.      But  we  are  lay- 
ing our  liands  on  another  man's  property,  and  be- 
sides it  is  a  dangerous  venture."    "Let  me  down," 
cried  the  sick  man  ;  "  I  will  be  satisfied  if  I  can 
only  lie  at  His  feet,  be  it  dead  or  alive  ;  and  all 
damages  which  we  may  do  we  will  fully  repay. " 
In  the  middle  of  the  flooring  there  was  a  square, 
made  of  bricks,  which  were  laid  together,  mosaic- 
like, in  order  to  make  a  figure  decorating  the  floor. 
But  this  square  was  intended  not  only  for  an  orna- 
ment of  the  roof,  bf!t  also  for  light  and  ventilation. 
In  the  rainy  season  in  winter  it  was  closed,  and  in 
this  condition  it  happened  to  be  now,  although  the 
rainy  season  was  over,  and  with  the  Easter  time, 
especially  along  the  sea,  spring  in  all  the  glory  of  a 
resurrected  life  had  made  its  appearance.     When 
the  four  carriers  had  taken  away  the  bricks,  it  ap- 
peared that  these  were  lying   on  a  plank  with  a 
ring,  which  could  be  opened  like  a  trap-door.     The 
rafters  of  the  building  proved  to  ofter  a  space  which 
w^as  just  large  enough,  and  none  too  large  to  let  the 
sick  man  down,  still  bound  to  his  bed.     The  four- 
cornered  opening  had  intentionally  been  made  just 
above  the  cistern  in  the  court,  and  it  seemed  possible 


THE   MORNING.  57 

to  let  the  sick  man  down  in  such  a  manner  that  he 
would  land  just  back  of  the  speaker,  and  would  lie 
directly  in  front  of  Him,  when  lie  should  turn 
around. 

The  poor  invalid  allowed  them  to  do  with  him 
what  they  wanted,  and  his  four  friends  were  really 
anxious  to  secure  deliverance  for  him,  and  they  were 
also  sure  that  among  men  there  was  only  One  who 
could  help  him.  This  only  One  was  Jesus  of  Xa- 
zareth,  in  whom  they,  as  at  that  time  thousands, 
were  persuaded  that  the  God  of  salvation  had  Him- 
self visited  His  people.  The  four  were  the  neigh- 
bors and  friends  of  the  sick  man,  and  had  done 
their  best  to  encourage  and  relieve  him  in  his  pain. 
The  invalid  belonged  to  that  small  class  of  men  wdio 
look  first  of  all  to  God.  He  would  have  endured 
his  sufferings  gladly,  if  he  had  not  (we  know  not 
for  what  reason)  seen  in  them  a  merited  punishment 
from  God.  Just  as  the  thought  that  God  had  re- 
jected him  would  have  converted  a  wealthy  and 
luxurious  life  into  a  hell  on  earth,  thus,  too,  this 
thought  made  his  terrible  sufferings  which  chained 
'him  almost  as  dead,  though  alive,  to  his  couch, 
all  this  doubly  bitter.     He  had  become  entirely  in- 


58  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

capable  of  hoping  for  anything  better  ;  .and  that 
even  Jesus  would  cure  him  in  body  and  soul,  he  did 
not  venture  to  hope.  But  he  knew  that  He  was 
the  only  One  who  had  the  power  to  help  him  ;  and, 
although  he  considered  himself  entirely  unworthy 
of  any  help,  he  nevertheless  determined,  either  for 
death  or  life,  to  hear  the  Word  of  God  from  the 
mouth  of  the  One  sent  by  God. 

The  ropes  by  which  the  invalid  was  lowered  were 
scarcely  long  enough,  and  the  four  men  were  com- 
pelled to  bend  over  so  far  that  they  were  almost 
lying  on  their  stomachs  in  order  to  reach  down  far 
enough.  Before  this  the  noise  in  uncovering  the 
roof  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the  assembly  be- 
low ;  but  the  eloquent  and  fascinating  power  of  the 
orator  had  not  allowed  this  to  cause  an  interruption. 
But  when  the  hammock  appeared  over  the  heads  of 
the  assembly,  blank  astonishment  at  first  seized 
them,  which  found  expression  at  last  in  the  cry  : 
"  Rabbi,  Rabbi  ;  they  are  letting  a  sick  man  down 
behind  Thee  !"  "  See,"  said  Jesus,  looking  up- 
ward, "  their  faith  !  Assist  them  with  your  love  ; 
take  hold  of  the  invalid,  so  j;hat  he  may  not  fall  T' 
Thereupon  the  men  who  stood  near  Jesus  at  the 


THE    MORNING.  59 

cistern  reached  out  tlieir  arms  and  took  hold  of  the 
hammock.  And  as  tlie  ropes  were  not  long  enough 
to  let  it  down  to  the  ground,  they  untied  them,  and 
witli  their  own  hands  laid  the  sick  man,  together 
with  his  bed  upon  which  he  was  lying,  at  the  feet 
of  Jesus.  The  feeling  of  expectancy  which  this  in- 
cident had  awakened  in  the  assembly  was  remark- 
able ;  for  whenever  Jesus  had  on  previous  occasions 
healed  the  sick,  He  had  done  so  as  silently  and  as 
unobserved  as  possible,  and  generally  in  such  a 
manner  that  only  the  £ick  and  their  nearest  friends 
were  present.  For  He  intentionally  avoided  en- 
kindling the  unspiritual  fire  of  popular  enthusiasm, 
and  in  this  manner  to  cause  the  flame  of  hatred 
against  the  Pharisees,  which  had  for  a  long  time 
been  glimmering  secretly,  to  burst  forth.  He  did 
not  desire  that  His  main  reputation  should  be  that 
of  a  miraculous  healer,  but  He  endeavored  to  be  the 
object  of  faith  as  a  Saviour,  who  was  ready  will- 
ingly to  endure  all  the  sufferings  which  His  Father 
would  lay  upon  Him  ;  but  He  would  not  of  His 
own  will  draw  these  on.  Now,  however,  when  all 
at  once  an  apparently  incurable  invalid  was  laid 
down  before  Him  in  the  presence  of  many  witness- 


GO  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

es,  a  problem  was  imposed  upon  Him  whose  solu- 
tion the  dense  multitude  around  Him  were  awaitinaj 
with  deep  anxiety.  Will  He  solve  it,  and  how  will 
He  do  it  ?  Such  were  the  questions  which  could  be 
read  upon  all  the  inquiring  faces  around. 

"  Man,  what  is  thy  wish  ?"  He  asked,  in  a  de- 
termined voice,  of  the  unknown  man  who  had  so 
suddenly  interrupted  His  sermon,  and  who  had  by 
no  word  of  address  or  petition  appealed  to  Him. 
The  sick  man  was  silent,  but  his  breast  rose  and 
fell ;  his  whole  body  trembled,  and  his  eyes,  whose 
upward  glance  was  riveted  on  Jesus,  with  heavy 
weeping,  gushed  forth  a  stream  of  tears.  He,  of 
whom  those  who  stood  near  Him  testified  that  He 
could  penetrate  the  innermost  thoughts  of  men,  saw 
that  He  had  before  Him  here  a  man  to  whom  bodily 
health  was  not  the  highest  good.  His  groanings 
were  self-accusations  ;  his  trembling  was  fear  of  the 
Holy  One  ;  his  weeping  was  begging  for  grace. 
Therefore  the  Lord  rejoiced,  because  He  could  on 
this  occasion  seize  the  evil  by  the  roots,  and  could 
beo-in  the  restoration  from  within.  His  heart  was 
opened  ;  his  face  became  bright  ;  his  voice  became 
mellow  ;  and,  with  an  expression  in  which  exalted 


THE    MORNING.  01 

self-consciousness,  deeply  sympathetic  condescen- 
sion and  undoubting  certainty  were  harmoniously 
united,  He  said  :  ^'  Be  of  good  cheer,  My  son  ;  thy 
sins  are  forgiven  thee."  These  words  had  an  effect 
■upon  the  invalid  such  as  when  the  winds  scatter  the 
clouds  and  the  blue  azure  appears,  or  as  when  a 
heaven-sent  shower  refreshes  a  plant  almost  with- 
ered in  the  torrid  earth.  The  feeling  of  possessing 
grace  came  over  him  ;  the  peace  of  God  penetrated 
his  soul  ;  his  features  became  smooth  and  bright  ; 
his  eyes  looked  in  gratitude  up  to  the  Comforter, 
and  in  his  tears  his  joy  was  reflected,  as  is  the  sun 
in  the  pearly  dewdrops.  But  while  these  consoling 
words  were  giving  new  life  to  the  sick  man,  there 
were  hidden  in  them  for  Him  who  spoke  them  the 
germs  of  death. 

The  liturgy  of  the  law  knew  of  a  purification 
pronounced  by  the  priest — e.g.^  of  the  lepers  ;  but 
not  of  a  declaration  of  purity  from  sin  through  the 
priest.  In  general,  Judaism  knew  nothing  of  an 
absolution  pronounced  through  the  medium  of  men. 
Isaiah,  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  his  prophecies,  is  ab- 
solved by  a  seraph  ;  and  Zechariah,  chapter  three, 
by  the   angel  of  the  Lord  ;  but  in   Ijoth   prophetic 


62  A   DAY    IN   CAPEKNAUiU. 

visions  there  is  a  special  command  of  tlie  Lord  to 
this  effect,  which  the  heavenly  messengers  carry  out. 
For  the  forsriveness  of  sins  is  a  rio^ht  belonojina^  ex- 

O  CD  CD  Cl 

clusively  to  God  ;  and  whenever  one  creature  pro- 
nounces the  other  free  and  dehvered  of  his  sins,  it 
cannot  be  done  by  tlie  authority  of  the  speaker 
himself,  but  only  through  authority  from  God.  It 
can  therefore  be  easily  understood  why  the  words  of 
Jesus  addressed  to  the  paralytic  aroused  surprise 
and  astonishment  in  those  that  were  present.  Their 
effect  upon  several  of  the  company  was  also  another 
than  this.  Back  in  the  last  row  of  people,  on  a  side 
bench,  sat  several  Tannaim  (scribes),  who  were  ex- 
cited to  a  wonderful  degree  by  these  words,  and 
moved  from  one  side  to  another  on  their  seats,  shook 
their  heads,  and  gesticulated  with  their  hands.  Jesus 
understood  their  angry  faces  and  conduct.  The 
accusation  which  they  had  thereby  raised  against 
Him  was  nothing  less  than  that  He  was  a  blasphemer. 
It  was  a  most  important  turning-point  in  the  life 
of  Jesus  ;  for  the  condemnation  of  Jesus  as  a  blas- 
phemer, which  those  scribes  pronounced  in  their 
hearts,  was  the  beginning  of  the  prosecution  which 
several  vears  later  was  to  be  brous-ht  to  such  a  tratj^ic 


THE   MORNING.  03 

end  in  Jerusalem.  Those  gentlemen  in  tlie  rear  of 
the  court  thought  they  could  observe  what  was 
going  on  without  being  noticed  ;  but  in  this  they 
were  disagreeably  disappointed  when  they  were 
compelled  to  learn  that  they  were  the  ones  who 
were  being  watched,  and  that  His  all-penetrating 
eye  had  seen  even  through  the  thoughts  of  their 
hearts.  They  were  indignant  at  the  assumptions  of 
this  man,  who,  without  having  attended  a  "  Beth- 
ha-MidrasK''*  (house  of  instruction),  and  without 
being  able  to  show  up  a  ''  HoraalC^  (certificate 
showing  a  right  to  teach),  had  ventured  to  become 
a  teacher.  And  now  they  were  compelled  to  sub- 
mit to  the  disgrace  of  being  pointed  out  before  all 
the  people,  when  He  directed  toward  them  His 
eyes  with  their  piercing  fire,  so  offensive  to  their 
innermost  souls,  and  asked  them  :  '''  AVherefore 
think  ye  evil  in  your  hearts  ?"  (Matt.  9  :  4). 

He  had  already  come  to  the  conclusion  that  He 
could  not  hope  to  leave  a  wholesome  impression  on 
those  who  looked  upon  Him  as  a  layman  animated 
solely  by  a  morbid  selfishness,  and  who,  contrary  to 
all  right,  had  assumed  the  duties  of  a  teacher,  and 
was  making  the  people  rebellious  against  their  law- 


G4  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

fill  instructors.  He  knew  well  that  these  men  drew 
only  poison  out  of  His  words  ;  that  they  were  gather- 
ing material  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  His  use- 
fulness forever  ;  and  that  they  could  not  be  cured 
of  taking  offence  at  His  person,  because  they  had 
purposely  steeled  their  hearts  against  Him.  But 
He  did  not  fear  them  ;  He  took  up  the  battle 
which  they  offered  Him,  by  suddenly  dragging 
them  upon  the  battle-ground,  and  putting  those 
who  were  secretly  planning  an  attack,  upon  the  de- 
fence. ^'  For  which  is  easier,"  He  says,  "  to  say 
to  the  paralytic  :  '  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee,'  or  to 
say  :  '  Arise  and  go  !'  "  Since  they  judged  accord- 
ing to  what  they  heard  and  saw,  the  former  would, 
of  course  (altliough  it  appeared  blasphemous  to 
them),  be  easier  than  the  latter;  for  the  former  is 
a  word  whose  effects  are  invisible,  and  in  which 
deception  could  be  practised  ;  but  in  the  latter  case, 
unless  the  speaker  would  put  Himself  to  shame,  a 
visible  result  must  take  place  as  proof  to  those  pres- 
ent. Without  waiting  for  their  answer.  He  con- 
tinued, turning  to  the  paralytic  :  '^  Biit  that  ye  may 
know  that  the  Son  of  Man  hath  power  to  forgive  sins 
— arise,  and  take  up  thy  bed,  and  go  to  thy  house." 


THE   MORNING.  65 

The  men  sitting  on  the  bench  bent  their  heads  in 
confusion  and  anger,  and  looked  intently  upon  the 
ground.  A  deep  and  breathless  silence  prevailed 
in  the  whole  assembly.  All  eyes  were  fixed  on  the 
sick  man,  and  the  four  men  above,  several  of  whom 
were  looking  through  the  opening,  while  the  others 
were  standing  upon  the  stairs,  were  all  eye  and  ear 
for  what  was  taking  place  below.  The  word  of 
power  from  Jesus  was  for  what  they  had  labored  ; 
but  it  had  unexpectedly  taken  such  a  turn,  that  it 
had  confused  them  as  does  a  sudden  thunder  fol- 
lowing quickly  upon  lightning.  The  sick  man  had 
indeed  heard  the  sound  of  the  words,  but  he  lacked 
the  will  to  obey  them.  The  powers  of  nature,  which 
the  miraculous  power  of  these  words  had  called  into 
life,  exerted  themselves  gradually,  and  the  eye  of 
Jesus,  intently  fastened  upon  the  invalid,  followed 
the  effect  of  the  words  step  by  step.  The  numb- 
ness began  to  loosen  ;  the  muscles  began  to  show 
life  ;  feeling  and  the  power  to  move  returned  ;  and 
when  he  felt  that  his  members,  which  heretofore 
had  been  without  feeling  and  motion,  were  again 
obedient  to  his  will,  he  raised  himself  up,  astonished 
at    himself,   little   by  little,    and    with   increasing 


66  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

self-confidence,  until  lie  finally  stood  erect  be- 
fore Him,  and,  stretching  out  his  hands  to  Jesus, 
sank  upon  his  knees,  and  worshipped  Him.  But 
Jesus  stepped  back,  and  pointed  to  the  bed.  He 
took  his  bed  by  the  four  corners,  folded  it,  held  it 
in  front  of  himself,  so  that  he  could  still  look  straight 
at  Jesns,  stepped  backward,  without  taking  his  eye 
from  his  Deliverer,  through  the  crowd  that  made 
room  for  him,  until  he  reached  the  street. 

Spellbound  by  fear  and  astonishment,  all  were 
silent  while  this  took  place.  But  when  the  man 
restored  to  health  had  departed,  cries  of  wonder 
and  enthusiasm  broke  forth,  first  in  subdued  tones, 
but  gradually  becoming  louder.  ''  We  have  nevrer 
seen  anything  like  this."  '^  We  have  seen  incredi- 
ble things  to-day."  In  this  way  one  cried  to  the 
other,  who  assented  to  what  was  said.  A  venerable 
old  man,  who  was  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of 
Capernaum,  sought  to  express  the  sentiment  that 
appeared  in  these  mingled  voices  of  enthusiasm,  by 
turning  to  the  benches  which  the  scribes  had  taken 
but  now  had  secretly  deserted,  by  crying  aloud  : 
"  Blessed  be  God,  who  hath  given  such  power  to 
men  !'^     These  words  referred  to  Him  who  called 


THE   MOilNING.  07 

Himself  the  Son  of  Man  ;  and  they  praised  God 
for  the  power  which  through  this  one  man  He  had 
given  to  mankind.  The  heart  of  the  people  was 
yet  in  a  healthy  state,  and  had  not  been  cor- 
rupted by  the  false  leaders,  but  re-echoed  faithfully 
the  impressions  received  by  it. 

The  names  of  the  scribes  who  on  this  occasion 
had  accused  Jesns  of  blasphemy  are  not  recorded 
in  the  three  synoptic  gospels.  The  Midrash  to 
Eccles.  7  :  28  may  have  contained  them.  Under 
the  wicked  woman,  of  whom  the  preacher  is  here 
speaking,  the  old  teachers  of  the  synagogue  nnder- 
stand  heresy  {inhiutK)^  and  in  this  sense  the  Mid- 
rash  on  this  passage  says  on  the  w^ords  :  '^  Whoso- 
ever is  pleasing  to  God  will  escape  it,"  that  ex- 
amples of  this  are  Chanenja  ben-Ittai  and  Rabbi 
Joshua  ;  and  on  the  words  :  '^  But  the  sinner  shall 
be  taken  by  her"  (Eccles.  7  :  26),  that  this  refers  to 
the  men  at  Capernaum. 

"  The  men  of  Capernanm  ?" — but  by  no  means 
all  ;  for  there  was  lacking  yet  a  great  deal  that  all 
the  inhabitants  of  that  city  which  Jesus  honored  by 
making  it  the  scene  of  His  Galilean  activity  had 
been  caught  in  the  net  of  the  Gospel  concerning 


58  A    DAY   IN   CAPERNAUM. 

the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Only  too 
many  had  become  rooted  in  their  every-dav  life, 
and  were  taken  up  entirely  by  the  affairs  of  the 
world,  than  that  the  words  of  Jesus  should  awaken 
their  desire  to  hear  more,  and  His  deeds  arouse  their 
curiosity.  For,  in  their  leisure  hours  (and  many  en- 
joyed an  abundance  of  these),  they  much  preferred 
to  parade  up  and  down  the  public  highway,  to  open 
conversations  with  travellers  going  by,  to  inquire  of 
them  for  the  latest  news,  or  to  gaze  by  the  hour  at  the 
sea,  watching  the  incoming  and  outgoing  boats  with 
their  men  and  loads,  or  to  sit  in  the  public  inn  with 
their  mug  of  Italian  wine,  criticising  the  last  year's 
wines  from  Lebanon  and  Moab,  as  also  the  new- 
est government  decrees  of  King  Herod  Antipas, 
or  Herod  Philip.  They  were  satisfied  to  accept 
Jesus  as  a  miraculous  physician  for  the  sick,  but 
congratulated  themselves  that  they  did  not  need 
Him.  The  one  or  the  other  even  shook  his  head, 
and  thought  that  something  was  wrong  about  the 
whole  affair.  Those  who  on  this  morning  had 
crowded  around  Jesus  were  of  a  better  type.  We 
have  reason  to  believe  that  they,  even  if  they  were 
not  all  impelled  by  a  longing  for  salvation,  were  jit 


THE    MOUSING.  69 

driven  to  Him  by  a  motive  higlier  than  of  this 
world  merely.  When  they  with  astonished  gaze 
had  followed  the  man  to  the  door,  and  with  their 
cries  of  surprise  had  again  turned  to  Jesus,  He  had 
disappeared  from  His  position  at  the  basin.  He 
had  taken  advantage  of  the  confusion  which  the 
miracle  had  created  to  make  His  way  through  the 
mass  of  men  and  to  hasten  np  the  back  stairs.  Ar- 
riving there  He  sank  upon  His  knees.  The  ap- 
plause, in  which,  besides  a  number  of  tones  of  the 
right  ring.  He  had  recognized  even  more  that  were 
not,  had  offended  Him,  and  the  adventure  with  the 
scribes  pictured  to  His  mind  His  bloody  end.  He 
collected  Himself  through  prayer  until  the  multi- 
tude had  dispersed.  Only  when  all  had  become 
quiet  below  did  quietness  enter  His  soul.  Then  He 
arose,  stepped  out  of  His  room  into  the  hall  in 
front ;  and  when  He  had  there  gained  the  composure 
necessary  for  His  purpose,  He  went  down  the  stairs 
and  entered  the  family  room,  where  the  faces  of  the 
two  women,  mother  and  daughter,  lighted  up  with 
joy.  They  were  reading  the  psalm  of  the  day. 
''  Read  on,"  He  said,  "and  read  aloud,  so  that  I 
can  hear."     A  little  later  the  four  men  who  had 


70  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

carried  the  paralytic  came  in,  and  broiiglit,  as  a 
token  of  tlieir  gratitude,  a  basket  of  roses  (which, 
in  that  region,  where  the  climate  is  too  hot  for 
roses,  are  a  rarity),  with  an  edge  around  it  of  nar- 
cissus and  hyacinths  and  blue-blossomed  squills. 
"  Take  these,"  they  said  to  the  wife  of  Peter,  ^'  and 
decorate  the  chamber  of  our  Master  and  Helper 
Avith  them  !"  But  she  assured  them  that  He  de- 
clined all  such  presents,  and  that  He  had  strictly 
commanded  her  not  to  accept  any.  Thereupon  they 
emptied  the  basket,  and  scattered  the  roses  on  the 
place  in  front  of  the  house.  The  children  of  the 
city  came  and  stood  around  this  artificial  garden. 
And  when  a  voice  out  of  the  house  cried  out  to 
them:  ''Take  them,"  they  made  wreaths  of  the 
roses  and  squills,  narcissus  and  hyacinths,  and  ran 
in  great  joy,  crying  out  to  those  at  home  :  "  See 
here,  flowers  from  the  Jesus-house  !" 


III. 

EOON. 

Toward  noon  Simon  and  Andrew,  having  fin- 
ished their  first  half  day's  work,  returned.  ''  What 
does  this  mean  ?"  asked  Andrew,  when  he  saw  the 
flowers  scattered  in  front  of  the  house.  *'  Have 
you  not  read,"  answered  Simon,  '^  what  Zechariah 
says  (6  :  12)  :  ^  Behold,  the  Man  whose  name  is  the 
Branch  ;  and  He  shall  grow  up  oat  of  His  place, 
and  He  shall  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord'?" 
^^  But,"  continued  Andrew,  ''there  is  such  an 
abundance  of  flowers,  as  though  the  chuppa  (the 
marriage-bower)  of  a  king's  son  had  been  erected 
here."  "  Well,"  says  Simon,  "is  He  not  a  king? 
W^lien  our  wise  men  say  these  Rabbis  are  kings, 
is  He  not  all  the  more  a  king  whose  words  and 
deeds  are  as  much  exalted  over  theirs  as  the  heavens 
are  above  the  earth?"  "Yes,  indeed,"  says  An- 
drew, "  His  soul  can  have  come  from  nowhere  save 
from  the  throne  of  glory.     Do  you  not  feel  as  I  do  ? 


72  A    DAY    IN^    CAPERXAUM. 

When  I  see  Ilim  before  me  only  mentally,  I  cannot 
restrain  myself  for  love,  and  1  fall  upon  His  neck 
and  kiss  Him.  But  when  I  see  Him  bodily,  I  trem- 
ble at  His  presence,  as  though  I  were  in  danger  of 
touching  the  holy  ark  in  the  holy  of  holies.  And 
when  He  takes  my  hand  into  His,  my  whole  body 
trembles,  the  ground  disappears  from  beneath  my 
feet,  and  I  seem  to  be  suspended  between  heaven 
and  earth." 

The  two  men  had  been  busy  out  on  the  lake  from 
early  morn.  Now  they  laid  aside  their  girdles  and 
w^ashed  their  hands,  for  the  noon  meal  was  ready. 
Jesus  was  called,  and  pronounced  the  blessing.  He 
did  not  seem  to  be  a  guest  in  this  house,  but  rather 
its  Master.  Those  assembled  were  silent  and  waited 
until  He  began  the  conversation.  '^  And  now,  My 
brethren,"  He  began,  *'  add  zest  to  our  appetites, 
and  tell  us  how  you  fared  to-day."  '^  Lord,"  said 
Peter,  smiling,  '^  the  fish  were  more  willing  to  go 
into  our  nets  than  the  buyers  were  to  take  them 
out.  Our  lot  was  the  best  of  all,  and  yet  not  the 
most  valuable.  We  offered  for  sale  breams,  bar- 
bels and  perch,  in  great  number,  at  low  prices  ;  but 
we   could   see  that  the   people   who  came  to  buy 


NOON.  73 

thought  witli  the  adage,  '  A  fat  piece,  but  a  thorn  is 
in  it.'  They  seemed  to  be  afraid  of  oar  fish,  just 
as  if  these  were  heretical  and  full  of  witchcraft." 
"  Have  ye  not  read,"  said  Jesus,  "  what  is  said  in 
Psalm  119  :  91  :  '  All  things  are  Tliy  servants '  ? 
The  fish  are  better  servants  of  God  than  is  man- 
kind." "  Yes,"  began  Andrew,  '^  we  would  have 
sold  out  sooner  if  the  market  master  and  several 
scribes  had  not  been  standing  by,  who  scrutinized 
closely  all  who  bought  of  lis."  ^*  But  you  have 
certainly  sold  out,  have  you  not  ?"  asked  Jesus. 
''  Yes,  Lord,"  answered  the  two  brothers  together. 
Then  Andrew  was  silent,  while  Peter  alone  con- 
tinued to  narrate  that  the  man  of  the  royal  house- 
hold, v/ho  owed  the  deliverance  of  his  son  to  Jesus, 
had  often  helped  them  out  of  a  similar  difficulty, 
and  had  saved  them  from  waiting  too  long  for 
customers. 

''  Then  you  finished  your  market  business  at  a 
not  very  late  hour  ?"  said  Jesus  ;  ''  what  have  you 
been  doing  since  ?"  '^  We  went  down  to  our  boats, 
in  order  to  take  a  chomer  of  wheat  from  Chorazin 
which  had  been  sold  to  Bethsaida.  Then  five  men 
came  runnino"  down   toward  us  who  had  been  in- 


74  A    DAY    IN"    CAPERNAUM, 

cjuiring  up  and  down  the  shore  for  us.  The  one 
cried  :  ^  It  is  well  that  w^e  have  found  you,  for  1 
am  your  debtor  ;  I  ow^e  my  health  to  your  exalted 
Guest,  but  at  the  cost  of  the  roof  of  your  house. ' 
After  he  had  explained  the  matter  to  me,  he  pressed 
a  coin  of  gold  into  my  hand,  but  I  refused  to  ac- 
cept it,  until  I  should  know  what  the  repairing  of 
the  house  would  cost.  Then  his  countenance  fell, 
and  he  asked  :  '  Would  you  be  willing  to  take  us 
over,  so  that  we  can  take  the  shortest  road  to  Beth- 
saida  Julias  ?  '  ^  Most  assuredly, '  I  said,  ^  if  you 
hurry,  and  we  will  even  consent  to  take  the  ordinary 
fare  for  the  trip.'  Thereupon  they  ran  back 
a  piece,  and  afterward  entered  the  boat  with  their 
baggage.  Among  this  was  a  hammock,  and  a  rose- 
bush with  budding  roses,  taken  up  with  the  roots 
(a  rarity  around  the  sea),  of  which  the  healed  man 
said  :  '  I  intend  to  plant  this  in  a  well-prepared  bed 
in  front  of  my  house,  and  the  roses  which  it  will  pro- 
duce shall  be  called  only  by  the  name  of  '  Miracle 
Roses  of  Capernaum.'  The  wind  came  from  the 
west,  and  our  boat  sailed  along  almost  without  the 
use  of  the  rudder,  and  we  soon  came  to  our  desti- 
nation.    It  was  a  lovely   trip  ;  for   the    five  men 


NOON.  75 

could  not  hear  enoiigli  of  Thee,  Lord.  It  was  a 
good  thing  that  there  were  two  of  us,  so  that  we 
could  relieve  each  other  in  narrating." 

This  conversation  at  the  tahle  was  interrupted  by 
a  singular  incident.  Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus, 
had,  indeed,  on  one  occasion  before  this  been  at  Ca- 
pernaum (John  2  :  12)  ;  but  since  that  time  every 
month  of  separation  had  increased  her  yearning  for 
her  son.  In  her  spirit  she  was  constantly  with 
Him  ;  but,  since  His  public  ministry,  the  sympathy 
of  her  heart  had  not  found  the  wished-for  response. 
Even  the  sentiments  of  her  immediate  surroundings 
did  not  fully  harmonize  with  hers.  All  the  more 
diligently  did  she  employ  the  spare  moments  which 
she  could  gain  from  the  duties  of  a  large  household 
to  work  for  Him.  She  prepared  linen  clothing  for 
Him,  and  rejoiced  in  anticipation  that  she  would 
possibly  be  able  to  take  these  things  to  Him  herself. 
Such  an  opj)ortunity  had  presented  itself  just  at  the 
right  moment.  A  wealthy  friend  of  her  family, 
belonging  to  those  few  who  had  recognized  in  Jesus 
the  One  sent  by  God,  had  some  business  to  attend 
to  in  Tiberias,  which  was  at  that  time  a  great 
business  and  commercial  centre  ;  and  he  intended 


76  A    DAY    IN"    CAPERNAUM. 

from  there  to  make  a  visit  to  Capernaum,  in  order 
to  hear  once  again  the  Word  of  truth  from  the 
mouth  of  the  great  Nazarene.  He  told  Joseph  of 
this,  adding  that  lie  would  not  only  gladly  take 
Mary  with  him,  but  would  consider  it  an  honor  to 
do  so.  He  could  easily  make  the  journey  to 
Tiberias,  which  was  a  distance  of  seven  hours,  on 
foot,  while  his  beast  of  burden  was  at  her  service  ; 
and  he  would  also  see  to  it  that  she  should  be 
brought  back  again  in  safety.  Mary  heard  this  with 
joyful  agitation,  and  a  petitioning  look  at  her 
husband  readily  secured  his  permission.  As  they 
desired  to  arrive  at  Capernaum  about  noon,  her 
escort  was  ready  to  start  between  the  ninth  and 
the  tenth  hour — i.e.,  about  three  and  a  half  hours 
before  sunrise.  The  man  walked  rapidly,  and  the 
animal  seemed  not  to  feel  any  weight.  When  they 
went  by  the  grain- fields  and  fiower-beds  of  Kefar- 
Kenna,  the  village  above  was  yet  lying  in  deep 
sleep.  From  there  the  way  went  on  one  arm  of 
the  plain  Battauf,  and  from  here  gradually  ascended 
to  the  water-shed,  which  is  marked  by  the  village 
Lubije.  At  sunrise  they  had  come  to  the  birth- 
place of  the  Apostle  Judas  Thaddseus,  which  was 


NOON.  77 

on  a  hill  covered  with  iig  and  olive-oil  trees.  And 
when,  after  taking  a  short  rest,  they  arrived  at  two 
wells  np  on  the  ridge  of  a  hill,  the  first  view  of  the 
dusky  sea,  lying  sparkling  in  the  sunshine,  burst 
upon  their  view.  When  they  were  near  it,  passing 
by  the  south  side  of  Karn  Ilattin,  the  rocky  mass 
with  its  dark  peaks,  at  the  foot  of  which  it  is  said 
that  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  was  delivered,  tliey 
began  to  meet  people  from  the  neighborhood,  who 
could  inform  them  that  Jesus  was  in  Capernaum, 
and  had  on  that  morning  performed  a  number  of 
miracles.  In  order  to  go  directly  to  Tiberias  they 
did  not  descend  through  the  Valley  of  Doves  (  Wadi 
Ilamdm)^  by  way  of  the  wheat  village  {K"fi" 
Ilattin)^  but  went  by  way  of  the  Emmaus  Yalley 
{ATmvds),  which  ends  at  the  sea  near  Tiberias.  At 
Tiberias  it  happened  that  Mary  found  a  boat  which 
liad  just  come  from  Capernaum  and  was  to  return 
at  once.  The  fishermen  were  at  first  brusque,  but, 
after  they  had  looked  at  her,  they  became  quieted 
and  reverent. 

It  was  Simon's  wife  who  first  heard  the  gentle 
knock  at  the  door  of  the  house.  She  arose,  looked 
through  the  wooden  window-bars,  and  sprang  back 


78  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

astounded,  crying  out  with  great  joy  :  ''  Mary  of 
Nazareth  !^'  Scarcely  had  she  said  this,  when  Peter 
sprang  up  and  hastened  after  her.  He  opened  the 
door,  and  took  hold  of  Mary's  hand,  looking  at  her 
with  intense  earnestness,  saying:  '' Blessed  be  she 
that  Cometh  !"  and  with  his  left  he  took  the  bundle 
which  she  was  carrying.  Keturning  the  salutation, 
she  asked  in  a  voice  that  indicated  her  anxiety  and 
fear  of  hearing  a  negative  answer  :  ^'  Will  I  find 
Jesus  here?"  ''Yes,  in  truth,  mother  of  my 
Lord,"  answered  Peter,  and  at  the  same  moment 
Jesus  came,  followed  by  the  others,  who  allowed 
Him  to  precede  them,  and  remained  a  few  steps  be- 
hind Him.  For  a  long  time  Mary  held  Him  in  her 
embrace,  which  He  did  not  refuse  ;  and  her  hot 
tears  flowed  down  upon  His  breast,  tears  of  deep 
joy  and  grief  at  the  same  time.  "  Peace  be  unto 
thee,  peace  be  unto  thee.  My  dear  mother,"  said 
Jesus,  pressing  His  lips  upon  the  crown  of  her  head. 
Then  He  supported  her  by  the  arm,  and  conducted 
her  into  the  room,  where  first  the  women  saluted 
each  other  with  loud  expressions  of  joy,  followed 
by  Andrew,  who  approached,  feeling  more  than  he 
could  express,  and  whose  hand  she  pressed  all  the 


KOON.  79 

more  heartily.  But  when  the  women  were  begin- 
ning to  ask  how  it  happened  that  Mary  had  at  this 
time  of  the  day  been  able  to  get  to  Capernaum, 
Peter  interrupted  them,  and  said  :  ''  Why  do  you 
permit  our  friend  to  stand  so  long  ?  She  must  be 
tired  after  her  long  journey.  Be  seated,  lady,  be- 
side our  Master,  and  break  bread  with  us,  so  that 
you  may  refresh  yourself,  and  honor  us.  We  would 
like  to  be  able  to  offer  you  something  better  than 
salted  fish  ;  but,  Hannah  (calling  to  his  wife),  bring 
in  some  grapes  and  figs,  such  as  are  yet  to  be  had  at 
Kazareth,  so  that  our  guest  may  be  able  to  taste 
of  the  blessings  of  the  Gennesar  land. " 

When  they  were  all  seated  at  the  table,  Jesus 
Himself  asked  her  in  whose  company  and  in  what 
way  she  had  come.  And  when  in  her  joy  at  again 
seeing  her  son  she  forgot  to  eat.  He  urged  her  to 
partake.  And  when  He  added  that  after  the  meal 
she  should  go  up  with  Him  to  His  chamber,  she 
gave  Him  a  look  of  the  deepest  gratitude  ;  and  the 
others,  who  knew  well  why  and  had  so  long  re- 
mained silent,  felt  encouraged  to  speak.  "  How 
happy  ye  are,"  began  Mary,  "  who  have  this  beau- 
tiful and  large  and  picturesque  sea  constantly  before 


80  A   DAY   liT   CAPERNAUM. 

jour  eyes,  whose  waves,  after  my  long  ride  on  the 
ass,  have  so  gently  but  quickly  brought  me  into 
your  midst,  and  how  beautiful  is  this  city  !  Its 
houses  are  visible  from  a  long  distance,  and  are  seem- 
ingly swimming  on  the  water."  ^'  Yes,  Capernaum 
is  beautiful,"  answered  Simon,  '^  and  never  was  it 
more  beautiful  than  it  now  is,  when  it  is  really,  as 
its  name  signifies,  the  city  of  the  Comforter  and  of 
consolation.  But  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants 
think  of  nothing  further  than  of  a  delicious  fowl 
and  of  old  wine."  ^^  But  Nazareth  also,"  inter- 
rupted Andrew,  ''  is  not  to  be  despised.  We  see 
the  sea  here  ;  but  you,  when  you  ascend  the  hill, 
have  also  a  view  of  the  sea.  I  will  never  forget  the 
evening  when  from  there  I  saw  the  glorious  sun 
descend  behind  Mount  Carmel  and  the  Bay  of 
Akko  into  the  sea."  "You  are  right,  Andrew," 
said  Jesus  ;  "I,  too,  can  never  forget  that  hill  ;  it 
has  become  for  me  what  Sinai  was  for  Moses." 
''Already  from  His  boyhood  days,"  continued 
Mary,  "that  was  His  favorite  place  ;  and  when  I 
missed  my  child  and  Joseph  went  to  hunt  Him,  he 
seldom  looked  for  Him  there  in  vain."  When  the 
conversation  had  in  this  way  been  opened,  inquiries 


NOON".  81 

were  made  concerning  the  individual  members  of 
"Mary's  family.  '^  How  is  Joseph  getting  along," 
exclaimed  Simon  ;  ''he  who  has  so  faithfully 
guarded  the  tender  shoot  (Isa.  11  : 1),  which  has  now 
grown  into  the  Tree  of  Life  ?"  Then  questions  were 
asked  concerning  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  Jesus. 
And  the  women  thought  that  they,  too,  could  now 
take  a  part  in  the  conversation.  They  asked  con- 
cerning the  outward  prosperity,  but  also  concerning 
the  attitude  which  they  now  assumed  toward  Jesus. 
Mary,  well  knowing  that  she  was  in  the  dearest 
family  circle,  spoke  openly  ;  His  countenance  by 
turns  becoming  bright  and  dark.  Whenever  she  be- 
gan to  speak,  all  were  silent  and  followed  with  in- 
tense interest  her  rather  slowly  and  carefully  selected 
and  considered  words.  It  was  interesting  to  notice 
how  the  light  and  shadow  of  w^hat  she  related  pro- 
duced corresponding  feelings  in  the  hearts  of  those 
that  listened.  Jesus,  however,  merely  listened.  He 
left  His  mother  to  the  friends  who  were  entertain- 
ing her,  and  rejoiced  to  see  her  received  with  such 
marked  affection. 

When  the  meal  had  been  concluded,  which  on 
this  occasion  lasted  considerably  beyond  the  usual 


82  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

time,  Jesiis  arose,  and,  with  covered  head,  spoke 
words  of  thanks.  After  this  Mary  also  thanked  her 
kind  friends.  Then  she  followed  the  beck  of  Jesus, 
and  with  Him  went  to  His  chamber,  where  Peter, 
as  she  heard,  had  already  taken  what  she  had 
brought  with  her.  When  she  now  had  Him  alone 
with  her,  and  had  reached  the  goal  of  her  jour- 
ney, she  embraced  Him,  but  instead  of  kissing 
Him,  as  she  had  done  in  her  thoughts  a  thousand 
times  at  home,  she  hid  her  head  on  His  shoulder, 
and  He  bent  down  over  her.  Amid  strong  agita- 
tion of  her  body,  she  burst  out  in  violent  weep- 
ing. Slie  wept  only,  but  did  not  speak  ;  she  clung 
to  Him,  and  did  not  let  Him  go.  Then,  after 
awhile,  Jesus  said  :  '^  Mother,  be  calm,  and  sit  down 
at  My  side,  and  tell  Me  why  thou  art  weeping  so." 
And  when  they  were  -sitting,  she  began,  holding 
His  hand  in  hers  and  looking  into  His  eyes,  to 
speak,  and  said  :  '^  I  rejoice  that  I  at  last  have  Thee 
again,  and  weep  because  I  will  soon  not  have  Thee 
any  more."  "Dost  thou  then  know,"  answered 
Jesus,  "  how  soon  or  how  late  I  shall  leave  this 
world  ?"  '^  Oh,  my  child  !"  answered  Mary,  ''  do 
not  the  paleness  of  Thy  countenance  and  the  trans- 


KOON.  83 

parencj  of  Thy  hands  tell  me  that  Thou  art  wear- 
ing out  Thy  strength.  And  if  Thou  dost  no  I  wear 
out  Thyself  (I  am,  indeed,  only  a  woman,  and  con- 
fined to  the  four  walls  of  my  house),  how  would  it 
be  possible  not  to  see  through  the  hatred  of  Thy 
enemies,  which  grows  from  day  to  day,  and  that 
they  have  sworn  long  ago  to  slay  Thee  !"  "  But 
yet,"  said  Jesus,  ^^  has  not  a  large  number  of  the 
people  come  over  to  My  side,  who  will  thwart  the 
plans  of  the  enemy?"  "Yes,"  said  Mary,  "the 
power  of  Thy  sermons,  Thy  boldness  over  against 
those  in  authority,  and  the  novelty  of  Thy  whole 
appearance  have  enthused  many  for  Thee  ;  but  this 
favor  of  the  people  is  like  a  brook  which  the  show- 
ers  rapidly  fill,  but  which  soon  disappears  again." 
"  Thou  art  right,  O  blessed  among  women,"  an- 
swered Jesus  ;  "  the  majority  of  this  people  do  not 
seek  a  salvation  from  their  sins,  but  from  entirely 
different  burdens.  And,  when  the  time  to  decide 
comes,  they  will  desert  Me  cowardly,  faithlessly^  and 
ungratefully.  Thy  look  into  the  future  does  not 
deceive  me,  but  even  the  enmity  and  infidelity  of 
men  must  serve  the  plans  of  God,  to  carry  out 
which  I  have  come  into  this  ;5Vorld.     My  path  goes 


84  A    DAY   IN"    CAPERNAUM. 

down  into  an  abyss  at  wliich  I  shudder  ;  but  I  obey, 
without  consulting  My  own  will,  the  God  that  is  in 
Me,  be  it  upward  or  downward."  Witli  these 
words,  His  face,  which  for  some  moments  had  been 
dark,  brightened  up  as  though  transligured,  as  the 
divine  power  within  Him  came  to  the  foreground. 
Mary,  drawing  in  all  the  rays  of  His  countenance, 
felt  herself  filled  with  a  trembling  of  heavenly  bliss. 
A  long  pause  ensued.  Mary  was  silent  ;  but,  as 
always,  she  was  engaged  in  prayer  with  lier  whole 
heart.  "  Beautiful,"  thus  spoke  her  soul  that  was 
in  deep  communion  with  God,  '^  was  the  rising  sun, 
beautiful  the  green  inclosure,  beautiful  the  blue 
sea,  beautiful  this  love-feast  in  the  charming  circle 
of  friends,  but  more  beautiful  than  all  is  He. 
What  an  hour  this  is  !  My  eyes  have  seen  the 
King  in  His  beauty"  (Isa.  33  :  17). 

^' And  now  what  does  My  mother  say?"  asked 
Jesus,  breaking  the  silence.  She  reached  out  her 
hand  toward  His  brow,  but  did  not  touch  it,  and 
cried  :  ''  Blessed  art  Thou  who  sayest  :  '  Lo,  I  am 
come  ;  I  delight  to  do  Thy  will,  O  my  God  !  '  " 
(Ps.  40:8,  9).  ''And  blessed,"  He  continued, 
taking  hold  of  her  hands,  ''  is  she  who  subjects  her 


NOOIS".  85 

will  to  the  .will  of  her  Creator,  and  who  is  not 
affrighted  at  the  sight  of  the  sword  w^hich  shall 
pierce  her  soul.  But,  tell  me,  what  is  in  that  bundle 
there  with  which  thou  hast  loaded  down  thy- 
self ?"  The  change  to  this  question  was  abrupt, 
and  Mary  was  compelled  to  collect  her  thoughts  be- 
fore she  could  answ^er.  "  What  is  sweeter  for  a 
mother,"  she  began,  "than  to  work  for  her  dear 
child  ?  and  what  would  be  more  painful  for  her 
than  to  be  compelled  to  giv^e  to  other-  women  the 
care  for  him  who  has'  lain  under  her  heart  ?  The 
bundle  contains  different  kinds  of  linen  garments 
which  Thou  wilt  have  need  of  ;  not,  indeed,  of  a  very 
fine  texture,  which  our  poverty  is  not  able  to  secure, 
but  substantial  and  neat,  and  everything  cut,  sewed, 
and  prepared  by  my  own  hands.  My  thoughts  are 
always  with  Thee,  but  never  with  greater  pleasure 
than  when  my  hands  are  doing  something  for 
Thee."  When  she  opened  her  treasure  and  took 
out  each  single  garment,  and  told  its  purpose,  Jesus 
exclaimed  repeatedly:  "How  well  thou  hast  pro- 
vided for  Me  !  How  diligently  thou  hast  labored  ! 
This  is  more  than  I  need,  and  more  than  I  can  use. 
This  is  good  and  plenty  enough  for  the  weddijig  of 


86  A    DAY   IN   CAPERNAUM. 

a  son  who  is  preparing  to  take  his  bride  with  him 
to  a  distant  land. "  She  knew  well  how  little  her 
presents  were  worthy  of  this  praise,  but  she  re- 
joiced, because  He  was  pleased.  The  cheeks  of  her 
who  was  yet  to  suffer  so  much  had  for  a  long  time 
not  seen  such  a  ruddy  hue. 

Then  the  Lord  laid  His  arm  around  her  shoulder, 
and  when  He  had  led  her  back  to  the  couch  at  the 
wall,  and  had  taken  His  seat  near  her.  He  began  : 
*^  Now  go  on  and  tell  Me  further  about  what  thou 
didst  mention  at  the  table.  Does  the  city  upon  the 
hill  continue  to  be  white  without  and  dark  within  ?" 
'^  To  day,  my  Son  and  Master,"  answered  she, 
' '  they  are  as  hostile  to  Thee  as  they  were  when 
they  attempted  to  hurl  Thee  down  the  mountain" 
(Luke  tt  :  29).  ''And  is  Mary  yet,"  He  con- 
tinued, "as  a  lily  among  the  thorns?"  ''Yes, 
Lord,"  was  her  answer,  "  the  daughter  of  Eli  con- 
tinues to  be  the  favorite  object  of  slanderous  tongues ; 
but  she  lives  so  retired  that  the  thorns  hurt  her 
but  little,"  "  And  thy  husband  ?"  He  continued  ; 
"  they  doubtless  treat  him  less  harshly  because  he 
is  of  the  seed  of  David."  "Oh,  no,"  she  an- 
swered ;  "as  he  is  nothing  but  a  carpenter,  he  is  re- 


NOON.  87 

garded  in  the  ejes  of  the  people  as  having  commit- 
ted a  crime,  because  he  has  not  rejected  as  a  bas- 
tard Thee,  who  was  sent  to  him  from  heaven.' '  At 
these  words  the  countenance  of  Jesus  was  en- 
clouded,  and  Marj  was  frightened  at  herself,  as 
though  through  her  words  she  had  defiled  tliat 
which  was  holy  ;  and  as  if  to  smooth  the  mat- 
ter over,  she  added  :  *'  But  the  secret  of  tlie  Lord 
is  with  those  who  fear  Him,  and  such  disgrace  is 
an  honor  to  us."  ^' It  is  indeed  so,"  He  con- 
tiniied  ;  ''  but  are  My  sisters  and  brothers  also  so 
much  above  the  defamations  of  the  revilers  as  are 
their  parents  T '  Mary  looked  down  sadly,  and  said 
to  the  Lord,  anxiously  selecting  her  words  :  "  Lord, 
in  this  slander  not  one  of  them  joins  ;  they  all  honor 
and  love  Thee  ;  but  Thou  art  going  too  far  for 
them,  and  they  are  frightened  at  Thy  opposition  to 
the  existing  order  of  things  ;  they  cannot  make 
themselves  to  understand  that  their  firstborn  brother 
is  the  Messiah  of  Israel."  ''How,"  he  said,  sur- 
prised ;  *'  are  James  and  Jude  also  no  further  than 
this?"  "  Yes,  my  Lord,"  she  answered,  ''these 
two  stand  nearest  to  me.  Whenever  we  converse 
about  Thee,  they  always  take  my  part.      When  I 


88  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

left,  they  cried  out  after  me  to  greet  Thee,  and  to 
•ask  Thee  to  pray  for  them."  ''  This  I  will  do," 
He  said,  "  this  Galilee  is  a  land  of  the  shadow  of 
death,  and  he  who  has  for  a  long  time  been  in 
prison  can  only  slowly  accustom  himself  to  the 
light  of  the  sun." 

Conv^ersing  in  this  manner  for  about  an  hour, 
He  arose,  saying  :  '^  iNow,  mother,  I  must  leave 
thee  ;  the  Mincha  (evening  prayer)  time  is  ap- 
proaching, and  My  calling  directs  Me  to  seek  the 
lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel."  ^'  And  am  I  yet 
one  of  these  ?"  she  asked.  "  No,"  He  answered  ; 
'^thou  knowest  the  Shepherd  of  Israel,  and  canst 
say  with  Shulamite,  ^  My  friend  is  mine  and  I  am 
His. '  "  ' '  But  since  Thou  art  going  around  through 
the  land,"  she  said,  '^  I  but  seldom  get  to  see  Thee  ; 
and  how  happy  I  am  when  I  do  see  Thee  !" 
''  Thou  wilt  yet  see  Me  often,"  He  said,  in  return  ; 
"  but  joy  without  grief  the  sight  of  Me  will  not  be 
to  thee  until  we  meet  in  the  other  world. "  ^'  Yes," 
she  answered,  "  I  must  train  my  soul  to  give  Thee 
up  for  this  world  ;  but  what  is  easy  for  Thee 
through  Thy  divine  power  is  hard  for  me,  who  am 
nothing  but   a  weak  mortaL"     "And  I   know," 


NOON".  89 

He  continued,  "  what  it  is  that  will  draw  thee 
down  again  to  the  ground  after  God  hath  so  ex- 
alted thee,  btit  only  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  and 
strengthening  thy  soul  in  its  longings  for  that  which 
is  above."  These  words  did  her  good  ;  she  felt 
that  He  had  penetrated  her  soul.  "  Let  us  go, 
then,"  she  said  ;  ''  and  do  not  for  my  sake  alone 
use  up  the  time  which  belongs  by  rights  to  the 
many."  He  then  kissed  her  forehead,  and  said  ; 
*'  Depart  in  peace,  and  remain  yet  as  long  as  thou 
canst  here  in  Capernaum  with  this  beloved  family. 
I  hope  to  see  thee  again,  even  if  not  just  as  I  see 
thee  at  this  hour.  Thou  standest  in  need  of  a 
strengthened  faith,  but  it  is.only  a  short  time  yet, 
and  thou  wilt  speak  as  did  the  prophetess  Miriam  : 
'  Sing  unto  the  Lord,  for  He  hath  triumphed  glori- 
ously ;  the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  He  thrown  into 
the  sea '  "  (Ex.  15  :  21). 


IV. 

MmCHA   (YESPER). 

It  was  a  hot  day.  During  the  hours  of  noon  the 
streets  of  Capernaum  had  been  almost  entirely  de- 
serted. Now  the  suq's  rays  were  beginning  to  in- 
cline and  were  less  scorching,  especially  as  on  this 
day  the  heat  was  tempered  by  a  soft,  cooling  wind, 
from  which  it  could  be  felt  that  Mount  Ilermon,  with 
his  snow-clad  brow,  was  sending  a  friendly  greeting 
to  the  country  of  the  Tabor  and  of  Gilead.  Men, 
women,  and  children  came  in  swarms  out  of  the 
houses,  of  whose  existence  now  only  the  masses  of 
ruins  give  testimony,  and  hastened  toward  the  syna- 
gogue, built  in  the  Herodian  style  of  architecture, 
whose  columns  and  marble  blocks,  now  lying 
scattered  around  in  ruins,  covered  with  heavy  thorn 
bushes  and  burning  red  oleanders,  still  tell  us  plainly 
that  the  wealthy  little  city  along  the  lake  could  bo 
proud  of  this  building,  and  grateful  to  the  centurion 
in  the  Gospel  wlio  had  erected  it.     The  city  which 


MINCHA    (vesper).  91 

sloped  so  gradually  down  to  the  sea  formed  a  length- 
ened square,   whose  southern  edge  lay  along  the 
water,  and  the  synagogue  stood  at  the  water's  edge. 
'^Abba,"   said  a  little   boy   softly   to   his  father, 
when    they   were   passing   the   house    of    Simon, 
"  will  Rabbi  Jeshu  come  into  the  synagogue  to- 
day ?"      ''It   may   be,"   answered   he,  "but  you 
must  not  call  Him  Eabbi  ;  for  He  is  a  prophet  who 
is  risen  again.     John  was  Elias  ;  and  He  has  in  Him 
the  soul  of  Elijah."     "H  only  that  man  will  not 
bother  us  to-day, "' said  a  man  farther  on  to  his 
wife,  who  did  not  answer  him,  except  to  say  :  "  Do 
not  talk  in  this  way  !"  in  order  not  to  excite  the 
wrath  of  her  husband.     In  one  of  the  streets  which 
terminated  on  the  wharf,  an  alms  gatherer  (gabhd) 
joined  one  of  the  officials  of  the  congregation  {par- 
nas),  saying  :   "  Have  you  heard  of  what  happened 
to-day  in  the  house  of  Simon  ?"      "  How  would  it 
be  possible  not  to  have  heard  it,"  was  tlie  answer  ; 
"  the  two  Rabbis  are  raving,  and  demand  satisfac- 
tion from  the  officers  of  the  congregation.      And  in 
truth  we  dare  not  suffer  our  teachers  to  be  publicly 
put  to  shame  in  this  way  by  a  layman."     "  But  did 
thev  not  deserve  it?"   said  the  other.      "He  saw 


92  ■       A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

very  well  that  they  had  come  as  spies,  and  then  He 
cleaned  them  out  like  leaven,"  "^  O  God  of  Abra- 
ham," said  the  officer  of  the  congregation,  "  are 
you  already  inclining  to  two  sides  ?  Are  you,  too, 
running  after  the  Nazarene  ?  And  yet  it  is  written 
(Proverbs  6  :  27)  :  *  Can  a  man  take  fire  in  his 
bosom,  and  his  clothes  not  be  burned  ?  '  "  The 
alms-gatherer  was  .frightened  at  himself  that,  he 
had  spoken  so  boldly.  "Mar  Lazar,"  he  said, 
to  make  good  again  his  lack  of  wisdom,  "  we  must 
not  leave  tlie  uneducated  masses  to  themselves  ;  one 
of  us  must  be  with  them.  A  Gabba  must  be  every- 
where in  order  to  know  his  people." 

The  colonnade  of  the  synagogue  and  the  open 
place  in  front  of  it  was  swarming  with  people.  The 
whole  congregation,  as  many  of  them  as  had  already 
arrived,  was  without  the  house  of  God.  Many  were 
walking  up  and  down  by  themselves,  others  by  twos 
.or  threes,  and  they  were  telling  each  other  the 
news  of  the  day,  and  looked  expectantly  for  Jesus. 
For,  however  often  they  had  seen  Him,  they  could 
not  be  satisfied,  and  always  awaited  Him  with  anxiety 
as  though  they  had  never  seen  Him  before.  In 
the  vestibule,  however,  the  two  aggrieved  Rabbis 


MINCHA    (vesper).  93 

were  engaged  in  animated  conversation  with  several 
officers,  to  whom  a  number  of  people  associated 
themselves  out  of  curiosity,  and  whose  attention 
was  divided  between  what  was  going  on  without 
and  what  was  transpiring  within.  ''  Excuse  us,  ye 
leaders  of  the  congregation,"  said  one  of  the  Rab- 
bis ;  ^'  but  will  you  soon  decide  whose  honor  is  more 
sacred  to  you,  that  of  your  teachers  or  that  of  this 
am,  hadrez  (ignorant  man)  ?"  "If  He  had  only 
not  selected  Capernaum  as  His  abiding-place,"  an- 
swered one  of  the  .officers.  ' '  TVe  are  in  a  sorry 
plight."  "  Not  only  this,"  said  the  other  ;  "  but 
there  is  One  higher  than  the  high  (Eccles.  5  :  8), 
to  whom  we  must  give  an  account,  and  this  it  is 
that  makes  us  hesitate."  "  How,"  fairly  screamed 
the  second  Rabbi,  ''are  you  also  inclining  to  two 
sides  ?  Do  you  not  know  what  is  written  in  the  law 
(Deut.  13  :  6-8)  :  If  thy  brother,  the  son  of  thy 
mother,  entice  thee  to  serve  other  gods,  thy  eye  shall 
not  spare  him,  aad  thou  shalt  not  pity  him,  and 
shalt  not  conceal  him?"  Just  then  one  of  those 
that  were  listening  near  the  door  cried  out :  "  By 
God,  He  is  no  idolater  ;  He  honors  the  God  of  Israel 
through   His  works  and  words."     ''No;  He   de- 


94  A   DAY   IIS"   CAPERNAUM. 

serves  not  only  the  ban,  but  soinetliing  worse  ;  for 
He  makes  Himself  to  be  a  God,"  cried  the  two 
Rabbis  as  out  of  one  mouth.  ' '  Te  do  not  under- 
stand Him,"  answered  the  other  ;  and  turning  to 
those  standing  without,  he  cried  :  ' '  Ye  men  of 
Capernaum,  these  Jerusalemites  have  come  down  to 
make  us  the  murderers  of  innocent  blood."  The 
excitement  constantly  increased,  and  the  two  Rabbis 
withdrew,  disappearing  into  the  synagogue,  crying 
woe  over  the  ignorance  of  the  Galileans  concerning 
the  law. 

At  the  same  time  the  attention  of  all  in  the 
colonnade  and  on  the  open  place  was  directed  tow- 
ard Jesus,  who  was  now  approaching.  A  crowd  of 
children  were  running  in  front  of  Him  and  others 
followed.  Their  deportment  in  all  this  zeal  of  curi- 
osity was  rather  hesitating  than  bold.  They  did 
not  venture  to  touch  Him,  and  spoke  to  each  other 
rather  in  signs  than  in  words.  But  those  that  ran 
ahead,  when  they  had  come  at  the  open  place,  cried 
out  triumphantly  :  "  He  comes  !  He  comes  !"  and 
hastened,  as  in  a  race,  to  the  doors  of  the  syna- 
gogue, in  order  to  find  good  places  to  satisfy  their 
curiosity.     The  men  and  the  women   in   the  ope:i 


MINCHA    (vesper).  95 

place  also  became  silent  at  once,  and  each  one  took 
a  stand  as  tliougli  a  festive  train  v^as  expected. 
And  when  Jesus  turned  the  corner  of  the  street  that 
led  to  the  synagogue,  all  eyes  were  riveted  on  Ilim. 
The  crowd  of  children  that  followed  Him  disap- 
peared in  the  nearest  rows  of  those  looking  on,  and 
sought  to  get  ahead  of  the  others  in  order  to  see 
Him  when  He  entered  the  synagogue.  The  two 
rows  of  sightseers  formed,  as  it  were,  a  guard  of 
honor,  through  which  He  passed.  All  of  those 
whom  He  had  passed  stepped  together,  and  thus 
His  following  grew  step  by  step.  He  looked  neither 
upward  nor  downward,  but  straight  forward  ;  and 
as  often  as  to  the  right  or  left  He  heard  a  hearty 
sheldm  (greeting)  or  jischar  (mayest  Thou  prosper), 
He  turned  His  eyes  aside  and  answered  by  a  won- 
derfully benign  brightening  up  of  His  countenance. 
The  tongues  of  many  were  bound  by  the  power  of 
the  impression  made.  Others  remained  silent,  be- 
cause they  did  not  want  to  have  any  connection 
formed  between  themselves  and  the  bold  innovator 
who  was  endowed  with  such  supernatural  power.  A 
venerable  old  man  murmured,  when  he  saw  Jesus 
coming,  the  Baracha  (blessing)  which  was  to  be  pro' 


96  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

nounced  when  a  king  approaclies.  ''  Blessed  be 
Tlion,  Lord  onr  God,  King  of  tlie  world,  who  hast 
given  man  a  portion  of  Tlij  glory."  And  a  beg- 
gar in  rags  waited  on  his  knees  for  Him  to  pass, 
and  kissed  the  hem  of  His  garment.  Of  the  larger 
children,  among  those  that  were  standing  at  the  por- 
tal, some  had  taken  their  smaller  sisters  and  brothers 
upon  their  shoulders,  so  that  they  might  be  better 
able  to  see  the  wonderful  Man.  Some,  more  bold 
than  the  rest,  had  climbed  up  the  columns  and  upon 
the  window-sills.  The  nearer  He  came  the  quieter 
the  young  folks  became  ;  but  the  little  ones  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  others  would  not  keep  quiet  or  still. 
"  The  Nazarene,"  cried  a  little  girl,  pointing  her 
finger  toward  Him,  and  almost  touching  His  head- 
dress. In  no  wise  disturbed  by  this  childish  curi- 
osity, and  obstructed  by  nobody.  He  entered  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  but  the  crowd  behind  Him  be- 
came all  the  more  compact  after  He  had  entered. 

The  ejes  of  those  pressing  in  after  Him  souglit 
Him  in  vain  ;  for,  having  entered  the  sj^nagogne. 
He  at  once  turned  to  the  left,  and  took  a  seat  on 
one  of  the  farthest  benches  along  the  wall,  opposite 
the  sanctuary,  which  beiiind  a  rich  purple  and  gold- 


MIKCHA    (vesper).  97 

embroidered  curtain  concealed  tlie  book  of  tlie  law. 
The  sun,  however,  seemed  to  be  better  informed 
as  to  His  whereabouts,  for  its  evening  rays  stream- 
ing through  the  high  windows  seemed  to  seek 
out  His  countenance  with  especial  favor,  and  ren- 
dered for  those  present  the  same  service  that  the 
Star  of  Bethlehem  had  for  the  wise  men  of  the  East. 
The  "  Sheliach  Zibhur^''  (leader  in  prayer),  on  the 
''  Duchan^''  (platform),  in  front  of  the  sanctuary, 
prayed  with  a  fervency  beyond  that  which  he  was 
wont  to  do.  A  power  of  especial  consecration, 
going  out  from  the  person  of  the  great  One,  perme- 
ated the  whole  service.  As  is  yet  the  case  now, 
the  services  were  opened  with  the  psalms.  '^  Is  He 
praying,  too  ?"  was  the  question  asked  by  all. 
Steady,  with  His  eyes  directed  toward  the  place 
where  the  law  was,  and  in  deep  contemplation.  He 
sat  there  ;  but  His  lips  were  moving,  and  the  feel- 
ings of  the  congregation  were  much  heightened  by 
the  consciousness  of  this  communion  of  prayer  with 
Him.  When  the  ^''  Shemone  Esro'^  (the  prayer  of 
the  eighteen  benedictions)  was  opened,  with  the 
benediction  Aboth,  and  the  words  were  uttered  : 
''  O  Tliou  that  rememberest  the  grace  given  to  tjie 


98  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

fathers  {Aboth)^  and  bringest  a  Saviour  {goel)  to  the 
children  of  their  children,  for  Thy  name's  sake  in 
love,"  all  eyes  were  turned  to  Him  ;  for,  even  if 
they  were  far  from  regarding  Him  as  this  Saviour, 
they  nevertheless  all  knew  that  He  considered  Him- 
self to  be  this  Saviour.  When  the  '^  TaohanurC^ 
(prayer  of  penitence)  was  to  be  spoken,  and  the 
leader  was  bowing  his  head  before  the  sanctuary, 
He,  too,  bowed  His  head,  and,  like  the  whole  con- 
gregation, hid  His  face  in  His  left  arm.  When  the 
^'KaddisJi^^  {\\o\y)  was  being  chanted  at  the  close, 
He  raised  His  head  and  His  countenance  shone,  so 
that  one  who  believed  in  Him  whispered  to  his 
neighbor  :  ^'  Is  not  this  the  glory  of  the  Shechinah  V 
(John  1  :  14).  With  the  words  :  ^'  May  great  peace 
from  heaven  and  life  come  over  us  and  over  all 
Israel,  and  speak  ye.  Amen,"  the  Mincha  liturgy 
drew  .to  a  close.  His  eyes  at  this  point  glanced 
over  the  congregation,  and  met  the  look  of  hatred 
on  the  faces  of  the  two  Jerusalemites.  He  en- 
dured the  glance  firmly,  and  compelled  them  to 
cast  their  eyes  down  through  the  mild  fire  of  His 
eyes  ;  and  one  of  these  men  murmured  :  "  The 
evil  eye  of  this  sorcerer  kills  !" 


MINCHA    (vesper).  99 

Up  in  the  women's  gallery,  where  tlie  women 
sat,  removed  from  the  sight  of  the  men,  and  took 
part  in  the  worship,  the  feeling  during  the  whole 
service  was  one  of  painful  anxiety.  For  it  was  only 
a  short  time  ago  that  the  presence  of  Jesus  had  been 
the  occasion  of  an  awful  and  terrible  interruption 
of  the  service.  One  possessed  of  a  devil  had  arisen 
during  the  silent  prayer,  and  cried  out  :  ''  Cease  ; 
what  have  we  to  do  with  Thee,  thou  Jesus  of  Na- 
zareth ?  Art  Thou  come  to  destroy  us  ?  .1  know 
Thee  who  Thou  art,  the  Holy  One  of  God" 
(Mark  1  :  24).  Whoever  had  heard  and  seen  this 
episode  could  never  forget  the  terrible  screams,  and 
the  contortions  of  face  and  members  in  the  afflicted 
man.  Jesus  had,  indeed,  on  that  occasion,  through 
the  word  of  His  power,  driven  out  the  demon,  a*nd 
compelled  him  to  silence  ;  but  the  healing  also  had 
taken  place  amid  great  and  wonderful  phenomena, 
and  the  remembrance  of  this  was  more  terrible  than 
agreeable.  The  evening  ser\aces  in  the  synagogue 
on  this  occasion,  however,  passed  by  without  any  in- 
terruption, and  the  miracle- worker  of  the  morning 
satin  the  midst  of  the  ^^  Kehilla^''  (congregation) 
of  the  city  quietly  and  modestly,  and  as  one  of  their 


100  A    DAY   IN   CAPERNAUM. 

neighbors,  and  He  would  have  preferred  to  have 
disaj)peared  at  once  from  the  midst  of  the  assembly. 
But,  after  the  services  had  come  to  an  end,  they 
all  remained  for  a  little  while  yet  in  their  places. 
Frequently  before  this,  Jesus  had  arisen  to  teach  in 
the  synagogue  at  Capernaum,  and  Ilis  manner  of 
teaching  had  filled  His  hearers  with  astonishment ; 
for  He  taught,  as  the  Evangelists  tell  us,  as  one  hav- 
ing authority,  and  not  as  the  scribes — i.e. ,  He  did  not 
confine  Himself  to  interpret  and  apply  the  different 
portions  of  Scriptures  according  to  fixed  rules  of  in- 
terpretation, but,  in  the  consciousness  of  being  Him- 
self the  Mediator  of  a  divine  revelation.  He  had 
opposed  to  the  old  revelation  a  new  revelation,  and 
had  shown  from  the  whole  Scriptures  that  this  new 
revelation  was  the  completion  of  the  old.  In  this 
way  the  people  waited  yet  a  while  anxiously,  to  see 
if  He  would  ascend  the  ''  Birria'^  (the  reading-desk), 
and  would  begin  to  teach.  But  He  did  not  do  it. 
But  neither  did  He  leave  the  synagogue.  The  two 
Jerusalemites  went  out  ahead,  and  stood  without 
on  one  side,  in  order  to  be  able  to  see  what  would 
happen  now.  When,  then,  the  assembly  closed.  He 
endeavored  to  depart  without  being  seen  ;  but  this 


MINCHA   (vesper).  101 

He  found  impossible.  Reverently  the  people  stepped 
back  and  made  room  for  Him.  A  young  man,  how- 
ever, stepped  up  to  Hhn,  and  asked  Him  in  a  sub- 
dued and  trembling  voice  :  ^'  Lord,  Thou  hast  not 
spoken  any  word  of  God  to  us  this  day."  ''  Come 
down  to  the  sea,"  He  answered,  also  in  a  subdued 
voice,  ''soon  after  the  setting  of  the  sun."  But 
scarcely  had  He  disappeared  from  the  synagogue, 
when  the  word  went  around  from  mouth  to  mouth  : 
This  evening,  late,  down  on  the  lake  front." 


a 


Y. 

THE   EVEISTIKG. 

Capeenaitm  is  now  a  field  of  imposing  ruins,  ex- 
tending down  to  the  sea,  and  buried  under  grasses, 
shrubs,  thistles,  and  undergrowth  as  high  as  a  man. 
These  ruins  are  called  ^'  Tell  Huin.^^  The  word 
'^  tell "  is  frequently  met  with  in  the  names  of  places 
to  designate  an  elevation,  either  a  natural  eleva- 
tion, as,  e.g.^  a  single  hill,  or  one  made  by  the 
hands  of  men,  as  a  heap  of  ruins.  *'  Hurri^'^  is  an 
abbreviation  from  Nahum,  for  Capernaum  means 
I^ahum's  village.  This  abbreviation  was  j)robably 
already  in  vogue  in  the  older  vernacular  of  the  peo- 
ple, for  they  have  also  abbreviated  "  Nechunja^''  in 
Palestine  into  "  Cliunjay  It  is  also  possible  that 
the  w^ord  assumed  this  form  in  the  mouth  of  the 
Arabs.  For  them,  however,  the  word  ''  /mm"  has 
no  special  meaning.  It  is  not  an  Arabic  proper 
name  ;  nor  is  a  herd  of  camels  called  thus  in 
Arabic,  but  rather  el-haum  {el-hom).     Instead   of 


THE    EVEmXG.  103 

Tell  Hum  we  also  hear  the  name  ''  Der  Hum''* 
(cloister  of  Hum),  from  the  opinion  that  the  prin- 
cipal ruins  are  those  of  an  old  cloister. 

From  the  ruins  the  country  rises  northward  for 
half  an  hour,  so  that  the  city,  seen  from  a  distance, 
seems  to  be  lying  against  a  hill.  A  steep  and 
arduous  path,  which  winds  itself  along  in  a  narrow 
valley  going  in  a  north-westerly  direction,  takes  the 
traveller,  after  a  walk  of  an  hour,  to  a  little  spring, 
called  *^  Bir  Kerdzey  Around  about  lies  the  field 
of  ruins  called  "  Khirhet  Kerdze,^^  which  are  much 
similar  to  the  ruins  of  Tell  Hum^  only  more  im- 
posing, and  are  noticeable  in  the  distance  by  the 
-liigh  columns  of  black  rock — the  remains  of  old 
buildings.  The  original  form  of  these  old  ruins 
can  be  reconstructed  from  the  remains  with  more 
probability  than  can  those  of  Tell  Huin.  There 
are  still  standing  several  well-preserved  squares  of 
mason-work,  of  old  and  small  houses.  The  walls 
are,  as  a  rule,  constructed  out  of  basaltic  rocks, 
•which  are  found  in  abundance  in  the  surrounding 
hills.  The  columns  in  the  middle  of  the  building 
support  the  roof,  which  was,  apparently,  flat.  The 
ruins  of  the  synagogue  can  also  still  be  recognized. 


104  A    DAY    IX    CAPERXAUM. 

Capitals  of  the  Corinthian  kind,  made  of  hard  basalt, 
show  that  it  was  an  imposing  building.  And  what 
a  beautiful  site  this  city  occupied  !  The  city  was, 
in  part,  built  in  the  depression  in  which  the  waters 
of  the  winter  rains  poured  down  from  here  to  Tell 
Huiriy  in  part  on  projecting  rocks,  from  which  a 
grand  view  of  the  sea  and  of  the  mountains  en- 
circHng  it  on  the  other  side  could  be  gained.  And 
it  was  here  that  the  synagogue,  built  of  basaltic 
stone,  stood.  Here,  where  now  its  black  ruins  stand 
in  grim  silence,  surrounded  by  desolation  and  con- 
fusion, there  reigned  at  the  time  into  which  we  are 
trying  to  transfer  ourselves  a  wealth  of  smiling  life 
of  man  and  nature.  All  Galilee  was  at  that  time 
filled  with  cities  and  villages,  of  which  Josephus,  in 
his  autobiography  (chap.  45)  mentions  more  than 
two  hundred.  Even  the  smallest  numbered  its  in- 
habitants by  the  thousands.  Ko  part  of  the  country 
was  uninhabited  ;  everywhere  inventive  industry 
had  utilized  the  whole  land  ;  and,  according  to  Jo- 
sephus's  history  of  the  Jewish  war  (III.,  3),  it  looked 
like  one  great  orchard.  From  that  day  on,  on 
which  transpired  what  has  here  been  narrated,  but  a 
few  decades  passed,  and  war  had  already  commenced 


THE   EVENING.  105 

its  work  of  devastation  in  this  magnificent  land. 
Earthquakes,  like  that  of  January  1st,  1837,  at 
which  in  Safed  alone  about  five  thousand  people 
were  killed,  have  contributed  their  share  to  trans- 
forming opulent  cities  into  piles  of  ruins,  and  luxuri- 
ant fields  into  deserts.  In  this  manner,  the  way 
from  Capernaum  to  Keraze  is  now  so  covered  with 
stone  and  grass  that  it  scarcely  can  be  found  with- 
out a  guide.  Formerly  it  was,  notwithstanding  its 
steep  ascent,  a  comparatively  easy  and  well-pre- 
served road,  used  a  great  deal  by  man  and  beasts  of 
burden.  The  hour's  walk  is  soon  over.  As  we 
turn  around  and  look  backward,  eye  and  soul  find 
pleasure  in  the  contemplation  of  the  magnificent 
blue  sea,  and  arriving  above,  we  are  surprised  at 
finding  Chorazin  lying  in  part  in  the  upper  valley, 
surrounded  by  golden  wheat-fields,  and  in  part  on 
projecting  rocks  above  the  valley.  Here  at  the 
railing  of  the  synagogue,  built  on  the  highest  point, 
Jesus  undoubtedly  often  had  stood,  deeply  intent 
in  watching  man  and  nature  at  His  feet  ;  or,  with  a 
heartfelt  appeal  to  Heaven,  observing  the  passing 
crowds.  For  this  Chorazin  He  often  and  gladly 
visited  in  His  journeys  through  the  Gennesaret  dis- 


106  A    DAY   IN"   CAPERNAUM. 

tricts  and  their  surroundings,  but  without  noticeable 
success  ;  for  in  grouping  Chorazin  with  Bethsaida 
and  Capernaum,  He  cries  out,  in  looking  o^er  His 
work  in  Galilee  :  "  Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin  !  woe 
unto  thee,  Bethsaida  !  for  if  the  mighty  works  had 
been  done  in  Tyre  and  Sidon  which  were  done  in 
you,  they  would  have  repented  long  ago,  sitting  in 
sackcloth  and  ashes"  (Luke  10  :  13).  The  judg- 
ment with  which  He  threatened  both  of  them  has 
caused  them  to  disappear,  with  even  fewer  remains 
than  Capernaum  ;  namely,  first,  Chorazin,  which 
lay  in  ruins  in  the  days  of  Etisebius,  and  then  Beth- 
saida on  the  sea,  whose  location  is  as  yet  only  a 
matter  of  conjecture. 

After  Jesus  had  left  the  synagogue.  He  desired, 
even  if  only  for  a  short  time,  to  be  alone.  He  en- 
deavored to  leave  Capernaum  by  the  nearest  way, 
and  walked  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  upward  to 
the  spring  that  was  in  the  valley  leading  up  to 
Chorazin,  but  without  following  it  farther  where  it 
turns  to  the  left.  He  wanted  to  keep  the  sea  and 
the  city  in  sight. 

He  loved  to  be  alone,  in  order  to  commune,  with- 
out interrnption  on  the  part  of  men,  with  the  God 


THE   EVENING.  107 

from  whom  He  came,  and  from  whom  He  had  de- 
rived His  spiritual  life.  The  world  of  nature  did 
not  disturb  Him  ;  for  He  understood  the  divine 
thoughts  of  the  Creator  that  were  hidden  in  it,  and 
every  creature  reminded  Him  of  God's  Word  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  waterless  wadi  that  He 
saw  spoke  to  Him  in  the  words  of  Job  (6  :  15)  : 
*'  My  brethren  have  dealt  deceitfully  as  a  brook, 
as  a  channel  of  brooks  that  pass  away."  And  the 
lily  which  He  saw  bidding  defiance  to  the  thicket 
of  thorns  in  the  midst  of  which  it  grew,  banished 
these  sad  thoughts  with  the  words  of  Sulamith 
(Cant.  6  :  3)  :  '^  I  am  My  belov^ed's,  and  My  be- 
loved is  mine  ;  He  feedeth  His  flock  among  the 
lilies."  The  worm  on  the  ground  interrupted  His 
steps,  whispering  to  Him  in  begging  tones  (Ps. 
22  :  6)  :  "  But  I  am  a  worm,  and  no  man  ;"  and 
the  basalt  rocks  on  the  way  whispered  to  Him  (Ps. 
27  :  5)  :  ''  He  shall  keep  Me  secretly  in  His  pavil- 
ion :  in  the  covert  of  His  tabernacle  shall  He  hide 
me."  There  was  no  object  in  nature  that  was  not 
full  of  instruction  for  Him.  Hence,  it  was  all  the 
more  natural  for  Him  to  employ  objects  in  nature 
as  illustrations  of  His  teachings.     In  these  lonely 


108  A    DAY   IN   CAPERNAUM. 

walks  tlie  parables  He  employed  took  shape  in  His 
mind.  The  creatures  told  Him  not  onlj  of  God's 
Word  ;  He  saw  everywhere  in  nature  and  in  the 
doings  of  the  world  reflections  of  the  secrets  of 
God's  kingdom. 

On  the  hill -side  of  Chorazin  there  stood,  to  one 
side  of  the  way,  a  shady  olive-oil  tree,  which  had 
struck  its  roots  into  the  ground  between  the  rocks, 
and  liad  grown  a  thick  crown  of  foliage.  Here  the 
Lord  sat  down,  and,  either  by  accident  or  otherwise, 
a  troop  of  doves  and  turtle-doves  crowded  together 
on  the  limbs  above  His  head.  After  He  had  cov- 
ered His  face  with  His  hands  for  a  while,  He  looked 
up,  and  feasted  His  eyes  on  the  sight  that  there  met 
His  gaze.  Quiet  and  even,  only  here  and  there 
slightly  moved  by  the  evening  breeze,  the  blue  sur- 
face of  the  sea  could  be  seen  down  to  its  southern 
termination,  a  picture  of  that  peace  which  He  de- 
sired to  bring  to  mankind.  The  many  high  strong- 
holds that  w^ere  built  along  the  hills  lining  the  other 
shores,  especially  Gamala,  conspicuous  at  the  south 
end  of  the  sea,  with  its  imposing  castles  and  tow- 
ers, showed  that  peace  was  something  that  be- 
longed to  the  future,  and  that  the  present  was  under 


THE    EVENING.  109 

the  supremacy  of  bloody  war.  Raising  His  eyes 
above  these  strongholds,  they  found  pleasure  in  gaz- 
ing at  the  high  plateau  of  Golan,  which,  like  the 
picture  of  the  mysterious  supernatural  existence, 
rose  above  the  rocky  walls  that  lined  the  coast, 
broken  through  by  mighty  crevices,  out  of  which, 
in  the  rainy  season,  great  masses  of  water  rushed 
into  the  sea.  He  saw  it  all,  comprehended  it  all, 
and  reflected  on  it  all. 

After  gazing  and  contemplating  in  this  manner 
for  a  time.  He  arose,  advanced  a  few  steps,  and  re- 
mained standing  at  a  place  from  which  He  could 
overlook  the  city  which  He  had  chosen.  This  Caper- 
naum, which  glittered  in  the  glory  of  the  setting 
sun,  contained  people  who  had  learned  to  know 
Him,  and  now  also  contained  the  blessed  one  who 
had  given  Him  birth.  With  joy  and  sorrow  He 
looked  down  upon  it.  His  whole  calling  and  life 
was  laid  open  before  His  soul  at  this  sight.  For 
the  city  at  the  sea,  where  the  districts  of  Naphtali 
and  Zebulun  meet  and  join,  was,  in  truth,  the 
stronghold  which  He  had  chosen  for  Himself,  in 
order  to  work  from  here  and  change  the  world's 
course,  and  bring  it  into  a  new  relation  to  the  will  of 


110  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

God.  He  spread  out  His  Lands  as  though  blessing 
it,  and  cried  out  in  the  words  of  Isaiah's  prophecy 
concerning  Capernaum  (Isa.  8  :  23  ;  9:1):  "  And 
there  shall  be  no  gloom  to  her  that  was  in  anguish. 
In  the  former  time  He  brought  into  contempt  the 
land  of  Zebulun  and  the  land  of  Naphtali  ;  but  in  the 
latter  time  hath  He  made  it  glorious,  by  the  way  of 
the  sea,  beyond  Jordan,  Galilee  of  the  nations." 
^' Yea,"  He  continued,  ^'the  nation  that. walks  in 
darkness  sees  a  great  light  ;  those  that  dwell  in  the 
land  of  the  shadow  of  death,  a  light  shines  over 
them.  O  Father  of  lights,  make  Me  the  light  of 
the  nations,  as  Thou  hast  made  the  sun  the  light  of 
the  earth."  ^'But,"  said  a  voice  within  Him, 
*^  the  sun  goes  down  bloody  in  order  to  arise  again 
gloriously."  "  However  this,"  He  answered,  "  I 
have  come  into  the  world  for  this  purpose,  to  give 
My  life  as  a  ransom  for  many."  With  such 
thoughts  and  words  He  went  with  quickened  steps 
to  the  city  and  down  to  the  sea.  Those  that  met 
Him  stood  still  for  a  long  time,  as  if  enchanted  by 
the  majesty  and  magnificence  of  His  appeapance. 

In  coming    from  Nazareth  and   passing   Mount 
Tabor  to  the  edge  of  the  ridge  of  hills  that  descend 


•   THE    EVENING.  Ill 

by  a  steep  grade  into  the  valley  above  Tiberias,  the 
Sea  of  Galilee  lies  before  us  for  the  first  time  al- 
most in  its  whole  length.  Then,  the  thought  that 
this  bit  of  earth,  from  which  the  Sun  of  salvation 
and  the  law  of  the  history  of  the  world  ex  oriente 
Lux  (the  light  comes  from  the  East)  has  been  ful- 
filled, fills  our  hearts  with  overwhelming  feeling. 
But  also  aside  of  the  crown  of  glory  that  rests  upon 
it  on  account  of  its  mission  in  the  history  of  salva- 
tion, the  clear,  pure,  and  gently  moving  waters  in 
themselves  leave  an-  agreeable  and  solemn  feeling. 
Of  the  lakes  in  Switzerland  none  are  like  this  one. 
V.  Orelli  says  :  "  The  Sea  of  Mur  is  nearest  like 
it  as  far  as  size  is  concerned,  the  Sea  of  Zug  in  re- 
gard to  the  clearness  of  its  water,  the  grace  of  its 
form  and  the  warmth  of  its  coloring."  He  and 
his  companion  saw  it  for  the  first  time  when  they 
came  from  Nazareth  to  the  edge  of  the  high  hill 
plateau  above  Tabarie.  Then,  after  a  half  hour's 
steep  descent  into  Tabarie,  they  could  not  get 
enough  of  the  sight  viewing  it  from  the  roof  of 
the  Latin  cloister  at  that  place.  And  when  one 
evening  they  were  bathing  in  its  waters,  they  ex- 
perienced how  quickly  the  waters,  smooth  as  a  mir- 


112  A   DAY    I]^   CAPERN"AUM. 

ror,  could  suddenly  produce  tlie  wild  waves  of  a 
storm.  ''  Above  the  high  rocky  hills  of  the  other 
side  quick  flashes  of  lightning  were  seen  once  or 
twice  ;  the  thunder  could  scarcely  be  heard  ;  the 
light  had  a  mysterious  appearance,  and  without 
being  able  to  notice  the  presence  of  any  wind,  the 
sea,  as  though  moved  by  the  arms  of  an  invisible 
spirit,  became  restless.  The  breakers  were  regular 
and  loud  ;  they  surged  until  late  in  the  night,  so 
that  it  seemed  as  though  we  were  at  the  ocean's 
beach. " 

My  two  friends  saw  the  sea  in  the  spring,  and  the 
impression  made  on  them  was  for  this  reason  a 
more  favorable  one  than  that  received  by  Robinson, 
in  1838,  on  his  first  trip  to  Palestine,  who  saw  it  in 
summer,  after  all  tlie  herbage  had  been  withered  and 
not  a  sail  or  boat  dotted  its  waters.  The  sea  looks 
different  in  summer  than  it  does  in  spring.  How 
much  different  from  what  it  is  now  must  have  been 
its  appearance  at  that  time  when  the  head  of  the 
fisherman's  family  in  Capernaum  was  entertaining 
the  most  exalted  Guest  that  man  has  ever  wel- 
comed to  his  house,  on  the  day  when  Jesus  was  re- 
turning from  the  Chorazin  fountain  to  Capernaum. 


THE    EVENING.  113 

The  mountain  wall  by  which  the  east  side  of  the 
sea  is  encircled  rises  from  one  thousand  to  two 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  water,  and 
forms  a  rolling  and  barren  line  of  liills.  These 
have  a  dark,  though  not  displeasing,  and  formerly 
also  an  imposing  appearance  ;  for  in  these  moun- 
tains— that  is,  in  their  middle,  between  the  high 
table-land  of  Golan  and  the  shore  of  the  sea — a 
number  of  small  castles  were  to  be  seen,  among 
which  that  of  Gamala,  with  its  fortresses  and  towers, 
were  the  most  import-ant.  Its  appearance,  before  it 
had  fallen  into  ruins,  must  have  been  magnificent  ; 
especially  when  in  the  light  of  the  full  moon.  One 
could  see  all  these  castles  from  the  sea-shore,  because 
they  lay  high  and  stood  out  prominently  .from  the 
hills.  And  to  the  imposing  appearance  was  added 
a  feeling  of  the  wildly  romantic  by  the  irregular 
and  broken  character  of  the  Golan  plateau,  with  its 
many  crevices,  through  which,  in  the  rainy  season, 
cataracts  of  wild  waters  rushed  down  to  the  sea. 
The  character  of  the  western  shore  is  entirely  dif- 
ferent from  this.  It  is  marked  by  sloping  hills 
and  rocky  cliffs,  that  encircle  the  sea,  now  closely, 
now  somewhat  removed,  as  far  north  as  the  hills 


114  A    DAY   1^5^    CAPERNAUM. 

that  there  border  on  the  waters,  and  it  is  cov- 
ered with  beautiful  villages.  Here  Nature  had 
poured  out  lier  horn  of  plenty,  and  here  the  in- 
dustry and  craft  of  man  had  drawn  from  Na- 
ture's resources  what  she  may  have  been  inclined 
to  withhold  from  them.  The  climate  of  the  lower 
districts  is  sub-tropical  —  i.e.^  it  approaches  the 
tropical,  but  was  made  milder  by  the  fragrance  of 
the  vegetation  that  covered  it  from  the  sea  to  the 
top,  and  which  is  watered  not  only  by  the  sweet 
waters  of  the  sea,  but  also  by  the  brooks  that  come 
pouring  down  the  hill-sides  and  by  springs  along  the 
shore.  Now,  this  most  famous  earthly  paradise,  by 
wars  and  earthquakes,  through  the  uncertainty  of 
holding  property,  and  through  the  stupidity  of 
man,  has  been  reduced  to  a  mere  remnant  of  its 
fcrrmer  grandeur.  In  the  Old  Testament  books  the 
whole  western  coast  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  or  Tiberias 
is  called  ^'  Kinnereth^^^  or  ''''  Kinneroihy  The 
Talmud  connects  these  names  with  the  name  of  the 
instrument  "  Kinnor^'^''  saying  :  ^'  As  beautiful  as 
is  the  sound  of  the  Kinnor  is  the  fruit  of  Kin- 
neretli,''''  And  no  greater  praise  can  the  Talmud 
2:ive   than   to  say  of  this  fruit  that   God  had   not 


THE    EVENING.  115 

allowed  it  to  grow  in  Jerusalem,  so  that  people 
might  not  come  to  that  city  for  its  sake  and  not  for 
the  purpose  of  worship.  But  the  true  explanation 
is  an  easier  one.  "  Kinnor"  is  an  oval  musical  in- 
strument in  the  shape  of  a  pear,  which  in  Arabic  is 
called  ''  el-ud,^"^  the  lute,  the  name  which  came  with 
the  Arabs  to  Europe  into  the  Spanish  language, 
and  from  it  into  others  of  Western  Europe.  The 
sea  actually  has  the  appearance  of  a  lute.  And 
then  there  was  situated  along  the  shore  an  old  city 
of  the  tribe  of  l^aphtali  called  '^  Kinnereth,^^  or, 
on  the  analogy  of  other  names  of  ancient  cities,  in 
the  plural  ^'  Kinnerothy  This  town  in  later 
times  was  called  ''  Gennesar^''  {Gennesar)^  or  "  Gin- 
nusar,^^  possibly  on  account  of  its  beautiful  gar- 
dens ;  for  this  name  signifies  the  gardens  of  the 
princes,  and  the  city  was  accordingly  the  city  of  the 
garden  of  the  princes.  This  city  must  have  been 
in  existence  in  the  Middle  Ages,  for  Estori  ha- 
Parchi,  in  1320,  according  to  it,  determines  the 
sites  of  Zereda,  Tanchum,  and  Tiberias.  One  of 
the  doctors  of  the  Talmud,  named  Jonathan  ben- 
Charsha,  is  called  ^^  Ish  Gennesar'''  (man  of  Gen- 
nesar),  as  Judas,  the  betrayer,  is  called  "  hh  Keri- 


116  A   DAlY   II^"   CAPERNAUM. 

jotK'^  (man  of  Kerijoth).  From  this  Gennesar  the 
sea  took  its  name,  which  it  had  when  Christianity 
was  first  introduced.  The  first  Book  of  the  Mac- 
cabees and  Josephus  call  it  the  ^'  Genneser  sea  ;" 
the  Gospels,  however,  call  both  the  sea  and  the  sur- 
rounding country  by  the  feminine  form  '^  Genne- 
saret,^''  with  the  exception  of  the  fourth  Gospel, 
which  calls  the  sea  by  its  youngest  name,  the  Sea  of 
Tiberias,  by  which  it  is  also  known  in  the  literature 
of  the  Talmud.  The  magnificent  valley  that  opens 
up  to  the  traveller  in  going  from  Tiberias  to  Mag- 
dala  was  called  the  Gennesar  Yalley,  and,  in  the 
stricter  sense  of  the  word,  the  Gennesar  country. 
It  is,  says  Josephus,  in  his  history  of  the  Jewish 
war  (III.,  10),  as  though  there  were  here  a  rivalry 
of  nature,  which  was  striving  to  unite  opposites  into 
one  point,  and  an  actual  contest  of  the  seasons,  each 
of  which  is  endeavoring  to  gain  possession  of  the 
land.  For  the  ground  brings  forth  all  kinds  of 
fruits  that  ap]3arently  cannot  grow  in  the  same  cli- 
mate, and  does  this  not  only  once  a  year,  but  almost 
throughout  the  whole  year.  The  kings  among 
fruits,  the  grape  and  the  fig,  grow  here  ten  months 
without  interruption,  and  at  their  side  other  fruits 


THE   EVENING.  117 

ripen  all  the  year  round.  In  these  words  Jo- 
sephus  praises  this  land,  and  other  ancient  eye-wit- 
nesses have  lauded  the  wonderful  beauty  and  fruit- 
fulness  of  the  Gennesar  country. 

The  business  and  life  that  at  one  time  covered 
this  inland  sea,  only  about  fourteen  miles  long  and 
seven  miles  wide,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
deep,  has  now  given  way  to  the  silence  of  a  church- 
yard and  is  dedicated  to  great  memories.  In  the 
division  of  the  country  among  the  tribes,  its  western 
shore,  as  far  as  Kinnereth,  fell  to  the  lot  of  T^aphtali  ; 
and,  according  to  a  tradition,  Joshua  had  added  the 
condition  that  every  one  should  be  allowed  to 
throw  his  fishing-hook,  but  that  every  net  should 
be  taxed,  because  unlimited  fishing  with  nets,  espe- 
cially with  drop-nets,  which  were  allowed  to  re- 
main in  the  water  overnight,  would  interfere  with 
navigation.  Now,  the  inhabitants  confine  them- 
selves to  fishing  along  the  shore.  Travellers  in 
the  present  century  have  seen  but  few  or  no  boats 
on  the  sea.  Robinson  saw  but  one,  which  was  bring- 
ing wood  across  from  the  eastern  shore.  In  those 
days,  however,  of  which  we  speak,  the  sea  was 
thickly  dotted  with  boats,  large  and  small,  in  which 


lis  A    DAY   IN   CAPERNAUM. 

fisliermen  were  plying  their  vocation  day  and  night, 
and  in  which  travellers  and  goods  were  carried 
along  the  shore  or  across  the  lake.  Josephus,  as 
commander-in-chief  of  Galilee,  on  one  occasion  or- 
ganized a  blind  attack  by  sea  on  Tiberias,  which  had 
rebelled,  and  collected  in  Tarichia  no  less  than  two 
hundred  and  thirty  boats,  each  manned  with  four 
sailors.  What  an  activity  and  wealth  must  have 
been  in  these  cities  and  villas^es  in  the  Gennesar 
country  !  In  looking  from  the  baths  at  Tiberias 
toward  the  city  and  the  sea,  we  see  in  the  back- 
ground the  mountain  of  Safed  and  the  snow-covered 
peak  of  Mount  Hermon,  which  shuts  out  all  further 
outlook  ;  and  from  Tiberias  in  a  north-westerly  di- 
rection, to  the  Barida  Springs,  we  see  a  terraced, 
smiling  land,  covered  with  houses,  and  extending 
at  least  half-way  up  the  hills,  behind  which  the 
rugged  and  perpendicular  rocks  put  a  stop  to  the 
Work  of  man.  The  view  is  a  great  deal  like  that 
of  the  Sea  of  Zurich,  from  Zurich  to  Kapperschwyl. 
The  ruins  of  Tell  IKun  lie  on  the  north  side  of 
the  sea,  one  hour's  walk  from  the  place  wliere  the 
Jordan  empties  into  the  sea,  between  the  steep 
shore  on  tiie  one  .^ide  and  the  plain  forming  a  fruit- 


THE    EVEXING.  119 

fill  delta  on  the  other.  It  carries  with  it  a  slimy 
mas8,  sluggishly  and  slowly  proceeding  on  its  way. 
The  marks  of  the  principal  highway  go  east  and 
west.  If  the  good-sized  place  here,  whose  houses, 
built  of  basalt  stone,  were  reflected  in  the  sea,  is  not 
Capernaum,  what  other  city  could  it  be  ?  Robinson 
and  otliers,  w^ho  looked  for  Capernaum  near  the 
Ain-et-Tin  (the  fig  fountain),  found  some  twenty- 
five  minutes'  walk  farther  south,  cannot  answer  this 
question.  When  Josephus  reports  that  in  a  battle 
which  he  fought  with  the  Komans,  near  Bethsaida 
Julias,  he  fell  from  his  horse,  and  was  badly  liurt, 
and  was  brought  to  a  place  called  ^'  Ce])harnom.e^^'' 
this  account  agrees  well  with  the  site  of  Capernaum, 
which  was  from  Bethsaida,  which  was  situated  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  mouth  of  the  Jordan,  the  nearest 
large  city,  where  Josephus  could  find  physicians  and 
could  hope  to  remain  concealed.  And  when  Jesus, 
after  He  had  been  informed  of  the  decapitation  of 
John  the  Baptist,  crossed  over  w^ith  His  disciples  in 
a  boat  to  Bethsaida  Julias,  and  the  multitude  fol- 
lowed Him  thither  in  great  crowds  on  foot,  hasten- 
ing after  Him  along  the  shore  of  the  sea  (Luke 
9  :  10),  this  can  be  best  understood,  if  We  suppose 


120  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

that  Capernaum  was  the  place  from  which  Jesus 
departed,  and  where  the  multitude  had  been  col- 
lected, as  this  was  the  centre  of  His  active  work, 
and  if  this  is  sought  for  at  no  other  place  than 
where  the  ruins  of  Tell  Hum  are  now  found.  The 
disciples  also  returned  to  Capernaum  after  they  had 
witnessed,  in  Bethsaida  beyond  the  Jordan,  the 
miraculous  feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  and  Jesus 
had  gone  out  from  them  in  order  to  be  alone.  A 
storm,  which  overtakes  the  disciples  on  their  home- 
ward journey,  threatens  them  with  destruction  ;  but 
Jesus,  walking  upon  the  waters,  comes  to  their  as- 
sistance, and,  contrary  to  all  expectation,  they  Und 
themselves  quickly  at  their  destination  at  Caper- 
naum. But  on  the  next  morning  the  people  saw 
that  the  boat  which  had  brought  over  the  Man  of 
wonders  was  no  longer  there  ;  and  they  learned  that 
the  disciples  had  long  before  sailed  away,  but  that 
He  was  not  with  them.  Thinking  that  Jesus  had 
taken  the  land  road,  they  entered  several  boats  from 
Tiberias,  which  were  lying  there  near  Bethsaida, 
and  again  it  is  Capernaum  to  which  they  steer  in 
order  to  find  Jesus,  and  where  they  do  find  Him 
(John  6  :  16-25).    From  all  these  passages  we  are  im- 


THE   EVENING.  121 

pressed  with  the  fact  that  Capernaum  lay  diagonally 
across  from  Bethsaida,  and  that  the  chief  seat  of 
Christ's  work  was  the  land  on  this  and  that  side  of 
the  north  end  of  the  lake. 

"Beside  the  mild  atmosphere,"  says  Josephus, 
in  his  description  of  the  Gennesar  country,  "  this 
also  adds  to  the  fertility,  that  the  ground  is  watered 
hy  a  remarkably  powerful  spring,  which  the  inhab- 
itants call  '  Capharnaum. '  Many  considered  it  to  be 
a  vein  of  the  Nile,  because  it  has  fish  similar  to  the 
Coracinus  (so  called  on  account  of  its  raven  black- 
ness) in  the  Sea  of  Alexandria."  Josephus  is  speak- 
ing here  of  Gennesar  in  the  narrow  sense  of  the 
word,  that  charming  piece  of  land  which  is  enclosed 
on  the  north  at  the  Chan  Minje^  and  on  the  south 
at  Megdel  by  hills  extending  down  into  the  sea.  If 
this  is  the  district  through  which  the  Capharnaum 
Spring  poured  its  waters,  then  Tell  Hum,  which 
lies  one  hour  farther  north  of  this,  cannot  be  con- 
sidered as  the  old  Capernaum.  But  what  Josephus 
says  about  the  spring  of  Capernaum  must  first  be 
corrected.  For  it  sometimes  happens  that  a  place  is 
named  after  a  fountain  found  in  the  neighborhood, 
as  is  seen  by  so  many  names  of  places  beginning 


122  A    DAY    IN   CAPERNAUM. 

with  the  word  '^  ^m"  (fountain)  ;  but  that,  con- 
versely, a  fountain  should  have  a  name  beginning 
with  the  word  ''  Jcepher''^  (village)  is  impossible. 
The  statements  of  Josephus  seem  entirely  incorrect. 
But  if  we  understand  the  statement  to  mean  that 
the  spring  was  called  not  Caj^harnaum,  but  Ain 
Cajpharnaum  (spring  of  the  Nahum  village),  then 
among  the  places  from  Tiberias  on  and  beyond  the 
Chan  Minje,  no  other  can  be  meant  than  the 
beautiful  and  powerful  TahigTia  fountain  ;  for  this 
lies  only  half  an  hour  from  Capernaum,  and  could 
have  been  called  after  this  city.  In  going  along  the 
narrow  shore  path  to  Capernaum,  we  pass  also 
some  other  springs,  but  Tabigha  is  the  only  one 
worth  mentioning,  and  is  the  most  important.  The 
waters  of  this  spring,  even  where  they  burst  forth, 
are  powerful,  and  of  su(ih  bulk  that  they  drive  a  mill. 
And  even  yet  the  aqueduct  is  preserved  in  part,  by 
means  of  which  the  waters  at  one  time  supplied  the 
whole  of  the  north-eastern  part  of  the  Gennesar 
Plain.  In  an  eight-cornered  encasing  made  of  stone, 
and  in  part  preserved  to  the  present  day,  the  water 
was  carried  to  a  height  where  it  could  How  into  the 
aqueduct.      iV    gutter    cut    into    the     rocks    led    it 


THE   EVENIN"G.  123 

around  the  projecting  mountain,  so  that  it  watered 
the  plain.  Ain-et-Tin  did  not  serve  this  purpose, 
because  it  lay  almost  down  at  the  water's  edge,  and 
the  other  water-supplies  reached  only  the  southern 
parts  of  the  plain.  But  that  Capernaum  secured  its 
water-supply  from  Tabigha  cannot  be  accepted ; 
for  the  water  of  Tabigha  is  tepid  and  brackish — 
i.e.  J  it  tastes  salty,  like  ocean  water.  It  is  less 
pleasant  to  the  taste  and  less  fresh  than  is  the  water 
of  the  lake,  which  the  people  of  Capernaum  had  right 
before  them.  The  -water  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  is, 
like  that  of  the  Nile,  excellent  for  drinking  pur- 
poses. The  qualities  which  Josephus  assigns  to  it 
corroborate  this  ;  he  says  it  glitters,  is  clear,  sweet, 
mild,  and  cool. 

We  must,  on  the  other  hand,  not  pass  over  in 
silence  that  there  is,  indeed,  a  tradition  to  the  effect 
that  the  old  Capernaum  was  situated  on  the  north 
end  of  the  Gennesar  country,  in  the  narrow  sense 
of  the  word,  which  is  now  called  ''  el-ghuweir^'' 
{ghuwer\  and  hence  near  to  the  present  Chan 
Minje.  "  Chan"  in  the  East  is  a  name  apphed  to 
an  uninhabited  oae-story  building,  which  has  been 
built  as  a  place  for  travellers  to  remain  in  over- 


124  A    Day    in    CAPERNAUM. 

niglit  ;  not,  indeed,  an  inn,  but  rather  a  structure 
serving  as  a  stopping-place  without  charges.  But 
wlien  the  Franciscan  Quaresmio,  of  Lodi,  in  his 
garrulous  book  on  the  "  Holy  Land,"  which  ap- 
peared in  two  folio  volumes  in  1639,  says  in  Vol. 
II.,  p.  868  :  "  At  present  w^e  see  that  where  Caper- 
naum once  stood  are  many  ruins,  and  a  miserable 
diversorium,  called  in  Arabic  Menich^^^  he  meant  by 
this  the  present  Chan  Minje,  between  which  and  the 
shore  of  the  sea,  beneath  a  large  fig-tree,  the  so-called 
fig  fountains  break  forth,  and  cause  the  growth  oi 
some  rich  grass  along  its  banks  covered  with  reeds. 
Robinson  and  his  companions  camped  here  on  the 
19th  of  May,  1852,  in  the  midst  of  magnificent 
clover-fields.  The  pile  of  formless  ruins  lying  only 
a  few  steps  south  of  the  Chan  on  a  slight  elevation, 
seemingly  the  remains  of  a  not  unimportant  place, 
were  at  that  time  grown  over  by  an  almost  ripe  field 
of  wheat.  Here  there  must  have  been  a  place  in 
olden  times  whose  size  is  yet  a  matter  unsettled. 
The  neighboring  people  have  often  turned  this 
ground  upside  down  in  order  to  secure  building 
material.  At  first  they  found,  as  we  learn  from  the 
work  on  ''Palestine,"    by   Professors    Ebers   and 


THE   EVENING.  125 

Guthe,  fruitful  soil,  then  yellow  earth  mixed  with 
rocks,  and  under  this  the  remains  of  old  walls  made 
of  carefully-prepared  limestone  ;  and,  besides  this, 
they  found  also,  near  the  walls,  some  potter's  ware 
and  other  remnants  of  an  old  civilization.  "Was  it, 
perhaps,  here  where  we  are  to  seek  the  old  places 
^'  Kefar  Tauchurnin,^''  or,  better,  "  Kefar  Techu- 
niin^'^^  mentioned  in  the  works  of  the  Palestinian 
Jews  ?  The  name  is  similar  to  the  name  of  Caper- 
naum, but  signifies  "  border  village, "  and  would  cor- 
respond with  the  north  end  of  the  Gennesar  Yalley. 
The  site  of  Capernaum,  the  Nahum  village,  is  marked 
by  the  much  more  extensive  ruins  of  Tell  Hum. 
There  the  French  Bishop  Arculf  saw  Capernaum  at 
the  end  of  the  seventh  century.  On  his  return  trip 
to  West  Brittany,  he  described  what  he  saw  to  the 
Prior  Adamnanus,  on  St.  Columba,  one  of  the 
Hebrides,  as  follows  :  ^'  Those  who  come  from 
Jerusalem  and  would  visit  Capharnaum  travel 
directly  toward  Tiberias,  and  then  pass  by  the  Sea 
of  Galilee,  and  the  place  where  Jesus  is  said  to  have 
blessed  and  broken  the  bread  for  the  five  thousand. 
From  there,  upon  proceeding  along  the  shore,  you 
arrive   in   a    short   time,    on    the   way   that    goes 


126  A    DAY    IX    CAPERXAUM. 

along  the  shore,  at  the  seaport  Capharnaum,  I 
I  saw  the  city  from  a  neighboring  mountain,  with 
no  wall  aromid  it,  and  confined  to  narrow  limits  be- 
tween the  mountain  and  the  sea  ;  it  lies  extended 
on  a  long  strip  of  shore,  with  a  mountain  on  the 
north  at  its  back,  and  runs  eastward  and  west- 
ward." This  must  have  been,  in  truth,  a  bird's-eye 
view  of  Capernaum,  when  seen  from  one  of  the 
mountains  to  the  south.  The  slowly  ascending 
ground  at  its  back  rapidly  changes  into  a  mountain  ; 
the  city  stretches  out  in  width,  and  its  front  is 
formed  by  the  sea,  which  seems  here  to  come  to  an 
end.  Antoninus  Martyr,  who  had  visited  Caper- 
naum a  few  years  earlier,  found  there  a  basilica, 
which  included  the  traditional  house  of  Peter,  just 
as  a  chapel  in  Nazareth  is  said  to  enclose  the  tra- 
ditional workshop  and  house  of  Joseph.  Down  to 
the  time  of  Constantino,  the  city  of  Capernaum  was 
inhabited  exclusively  by  Jews.  This  emperor, 
however,  allowed  a  Jewish  convert,  by  the  name  of 
Joseph,  to  erect  Christian  churches  at  Capernaum, 
and  other  hitherto  exclusively  Jewish  towns.  It  is 
possible,  even  now,  to  distinguish  in  the  thickets  of 
thorns  and  grasses  the  ruins  of  the  basilica  from 


THE    EVENING.  1:27 

those  of  the  synagogue.  The  synagogue  was,  as 
can  yet  be  plainly  seen,  seventy-four  feet  and 
nine  inches  long,  and  fifty-six  feet  and  nine  inches 
wide,  and  on  its  south  side  had  three  entrances. 
Amid  its  hmestone  ruins  are  also  found  capitals  of 
Corinthian  columns,  and  the  remains  of  architraves 
which  at  one  time  supported  wooden  rafters. 

Capernaum  lay  upon  a  projecting  curve  of  the 
shore,  where  it  had  a  natural  dam  against  the  sea, 
which  lay  a  little  lower,  but  which  in  the  rainy  sea- 
son of  winter  rose  higher,  owing  to  the  waters  that 
rushed  into  it  from  the  wadis.  The  houses  were,  in 
part,  built  so  close  to  the  water's  edge  that  their 
backs  were  reflected  in  the  water  ;  others  stood 
back  farther,  and  in  front  of  them  were  either  gar- 
dens with  arbors  or  places  to  dry  the  nets.  About 
in  the  middle  of  this  street,  running  along  the  shore 
in  the  old  city,  where  there  was  offered  a  good  place 
to  unload  the  boats,  was  the  landing-place  where 
the  boats  were  pulled  on  shore  and  unloaded  ;  for 
Capernaum  did  not  possess  an  artificial  harbor,  nn- 
less  you  would  call  this  landing-place  a  harbor,  and 
the  shore  road  the  dam  of  the  harbor.  At  these 
places,  on  the  evening  of  which  we  speak,  there  was  a 


128  A    DAY    IN    CAPERlirAUM. 

remarkable  bustle  and  life.  Like  wildfire  the  news 
had  spread  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  would  this  even- 
ing appear  at  the  water's  edge,  and  had  reached  even 
the  neighboring  villages.  It  could,  indeed,  not 
be  brought  to  the  places  on  the  other  side  of  the 
sea  ;  for  this,  the  time  between  the  vesper  services 
and  the  evening  was  too  short.  But  after  one  short 
hour,  it  was  known  at  Bethsaida  and  Chorazin  ;  it 
was  also  known  in  the  village  of  djers,  Magdala, 
and  in  Arbel,  lying  half  an  hour  to  the  west  above 
Magdala,  and  in  the  villages  at  the  fig  fountain, 
whose  names  have  now  disappeared.  From  all  of 
these  places  people  came  to  Capernaum,  most  of 
them  impelled  by  curiosity,  but  some  of  them  by  a 
desire  for  salvation.  Here  and  there  one  was  seen 
riding  on  an  ass.  This  animal,  in  Palestine,  is  of  a 
better  breed,  and  more  intelligent  than  in  our  lands, 
and  is  almost  as  fast  as  a  horse,  and  faster  than  the 
ordinary  burden -carrying  camel.  In  Magdala  cer- 
tain men  had  lifted  a  sick  woman,  notwithstanding 
her  strong  protests,  into  a  boat.  Her  old  mother, 
who  kneeled  at  her  head,  could  with  great  difiiculty 
keep  her  quiet  and  contented.  The  journey,  because 
there  was  no  breeze,  was  a  slow  one  along  the  shore. 


THE    EVENING.  129 

Occasionally,  however,  one  of  the  two  rowers,  at  the 
earnest  prayers  of  the  mother  of  the  sick  w^oman, 
stepped  into  the  shallow  water,  and  pulled  the  boat 
along  by  a  cord.  But  where  to  land  the  boat  ?  The 
old  woman,  as  often  as  the  sick  companion  would 
suffer  her,  looked  toward  heaven  for  an  answer  to 
this  question.  For  the  multitude  also  who  stood  on 
the  wharf  it  was  an  important  question  where  Jesus 
would  take  His  stand  ;  although  many  were  too 
careless  to  ask  themselves  such  a  question.  One 
would  look  at  the  beautiful  and  large  barbels  and 
sea-mullets  which  some  fisherman  had  been  lucky 
enough  to  catch  ;  another  was  examining  lumber 
brought  over  from  Gamala,  which  had  been  hewn 
in  the  woods  of  Gebel  Aglun  ;  a  third  was  convers- 
ing from  the  wharf  with  the  steersman  of  a  boat 
"which  had  been  loaded  with  iron  brought  overland 
from  Acre,  and  manufactured  in  the  iron  works  on 
the  western  Lebanon,  and  cried  out  to  him  in  the 
common  jargon  that  consisted  of  a  mixture  of  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Aramaic  :  '^  Antihi  tahta^  prahmatia 
shapira'^ — i.e.^  fine  fruit,  splendid  goods!  Here 
and  there  some  were  seen  getting  into  boats,  and 
having   themselves    rowed    out    to    sea,    in   order 


130  A    DAY   IN   CAPERNAUxM. 

to  look  all  over  the  shore,  and  be  able  to  go  at  once 
where  Jesus  would  take  His  stand.  Those  who 
were  walking  np  and  down  on  the  street  along  the 
shore,  hoped  that  He  would,  at  least,  pass  bj  that 
way  ;  for  that  this 'place,  where  the  boats  with  the 
iron  and  other  vessels  were  being  loaded,  would  not 
be  selected  by  Him  as  a  place,  from  which  to  ad- 
dress the  people,  was  more  than  probable.  But 
will  He  go  to  the  right  or  to  the  left  before  the  city, 
and  assemble  the  people  there  ?  This  was  the  ques- 
tion that  they  discussed  jpro  and  con  in  an  animated 
manner. 

It  was  a  most  beautiful  night.  The  sea  was  the 
picture  of  deep  peace.  The  murmuring  of  its 
waves,  that  broke  at  short  intervals,  the  pearly  foam 
that  appeared  and  disappeared  so  rapidly,  seemed 
like  the  lovely  dreams  of  one  softly  sleeping.  And 
as  one  who  is  journeying  into  a  strange  land  thinks 
again  of  the  loved  ones  at  home,  from  whom  he  is, 
indeed,  separated  in  space  but  not  in  heart,  thus 
the  sun,  sinking  behind  the  western  mountains, 
sent  his  evening  greetings  to  the  sea,  that  slowly 
and  softly  was  taking  its  course  southward.  The 
rich  blue  of  the  waves  shone  in  liis  golden  rays, 


THE    EVENING.  131 

and  the  clouds  above  it  reflected  all  the  colors  of 
the  precious  stones  in  the  breastplate  of  the  high 
priest.  But  the  mountains  above,  in  themselves 
reddish  and  made  still  redder  in  tlie  glow  of  the 
evening  sun,  were  enveloped,  after  the  sun  had  gone 
down,  more  and  more  as  if  by  the  incense  of  the 
evening  sacrifice.  And  on  this  side  a  mild  breeze 
mingled  all  the  delicious  fragrance  of  the  orchards, 
groves,  and  gardens,  together  with  that  of  the  defle- 
bush  crowning  the  shores  with  a  crimson  hue,  and 
united  them,  as  it  were,  into  a  savory  incense-offer- 
ing. On  the  windows  of  the  synagogue  the  spar- 
rows chirped,  as  though  uniting  in  an  evening 
chorus  of  praise  ;  here  and  there  a  pelican  could  bo 
seen,  which,  tired  of  diving,  was  flying  toward  his 
resting-place  on  the  rocks  beyond.  Only  at  the 
harbor  was  this  solemn  silence  banished  by  the 
mingling  of  many  human  voices  who  cared  nothing 
for  it.  Those  who  without  were  walking  up  and 
down,  expecting^the  great  Preacher  and  Man  of 
miracles,  could  not  otherwise  than  enjoy  the  peace 
reflected  in  nature  around.  The  children  run- 
ning back  and  forth  between  them,  who  were  hunt- 
ing  pretty   shells,    and    gathered    bunches  of    red 


133  A    DAY   IN    CAPERNAUM. 

anemones  and  fragrant  cyclamens  and  other  flowers, 
and  liere  and  there  made  a  stone  to  skip  over  the 
surface  of  the  water,  gave  additional   attraction  to 
this   evening  picture,  without   injuring  it.     Much 
more  animated  was  the  scene  along  the  shore  toward 
the  mouth  of  the  Jordan  than  it  was  in  the  direction 
of  Magdala.     At  all  events,  it  was  more  probable 
that  Tie  would  come  from  Chorazin  ;    and,  besides, 
two  women  were  walking  back  and  forth  at  this 
place,  of  whom  it  could  be  expected  that  they  knew 
whence  He  would  probably  come.     These  were  the 
wife  of  Peter,  and  Mary,  who  had,  without  diffi- 
culty, been   persuaded   to   remain   this  evening  in 
Capernaum,  on    which   she   expected   to   hear  the 
"Word  of  Life  from  the  mouth  of  her  Son,  and  to  see 
Him  in  the  midst  of  His  activity.      ''  Possibly  we 
are  on  the  wrong  side,  at  any  rate,"    said  Mary. 
'^  No,"  answered   her   companion,  "He   will   cer- 
tainly come  from  His  favorite  place  at  the  Chorazin 
well;  we   will   not   miss   Him."  ^^"  The   wife    of 
Simon   the  fisherman  I  know,"  said  a  man  from 
Chorazin,  walking  behind  the  two  women,  to  a  man 
of  Capernaum,  "  but  who  is  that  old  lady  dressed  so 
plainty,  yet  who  is  walking  with  the  gait  of  a  noble 


THE    EVENIXG.  133 

personage?"  "That  is  Mary,  the  daughter  of 
Eli,"  answered  the  other,  "  the  mother  of  the  l^a- 
zarene,  who  came  to-day  to  visit  Him."  The  man 
from  Chorazin  then  hastened  in  front  of  the  women, 
but  scarcely  had  he  turned  around  to  see  Mary's 
face,  when  he  was  compelled  to  turn  away  again 
without  satisfying  his  curiosity.  He  could  not  en- 
dure the  glance  of  her  eyes. 

While  the  people  were  in  this  manner  going  up 
and  down  the  shore  of  the  lake  in  deep  expectation, 
the  Kabbis  from  Jerusalem  were  in  the  garden  of  a 
country  house  situated  some  distance  from  the  city, 
from  the  terraces  of  which  the  grand  view  to  the 
northwest  upon  the  mountain  of  Safed,  and  farther 
to  the  north  the  snow-capped  Mount  Hermon 
could  be  viewed.  The  master  of  the  house  and  a 
number  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  influential  of  the 
citizens  of  Capernaum,  whom  he  had  invited  in 
honor  of  his  guests,  and,  as  he  expressed  it,  to  save 
them  from  the  riotous  noise  of  this  evening,  sat  in 
an  arbor  of  the  garden,  filled  with  palm,  banana, 
balsam,  cypress,  ajid  castor-oil  trees,  engaged  in  ani- 
mated conversation,  while  the  servants  were  offer- 
ing to  the  guests  on  silver  platters,  fine  confections 


134  A    DAY    IN"    CAPERNAUM. 

and  the  choicest  Gennesar  fruit.  The  conversation 
for  a  while  was  a  discussion  of  the  casuistry  of  the 
law  of  tlie  tribes.  "  I  have,"  said  the  man  of  the 
house,  "  down  in  the  valley,  three  huts,  in  which  my 
fruit-gatherers  live.  Is  it  allowed  that  my  children 
and  servants  shall  eat  of  the  fruits  down  there  without 
paying  tithes  ?"  "  They  may,"  answered  the  men 
of  Jerusalem.  ^'  But,"  continued  the  man  of  the 
house,  ''  in  one  of  the  huts  the  people  have  com- 
menced to  keep  house  ;  they  have  a  handmill  there 
and  keep  chickens."  '^  Such  a  hut,  also,"  said 
the  Jerusalemites,  "  need  not  be  tithed."  ''Take 
note,"  said  the  master  of  the  house  to  his  son, 
'^  whosoever  abides  in  a  perfume  factory,  although 
he  does  not  himself  buy  or  sell  it,  nevertheless  gets 
his  clothes  perfumed."  "Ye  men  of  Jerusalem 
are,  indeed,  happy,"  exclaimed  one  of  the  guests  ; 
"  for  ye  sit  at  the  fountain  of  the  law."  ''  Well, 
then,"  was  the  answer,  "  do  not  yourselves  sever 
your  connection  with  Jerusalem  by  running  after 
this  Jesus."  "Our  people,"  said  a  wealth}^  ship- 
owner, "are  as  ignorant  as  the  asses."  He  pro- 
nounced the  word  chamarin  so  indistinctly  that  it 
was  uncertain    whether   he   meant  asses  or   sheep. 


THE    EVENING.  135 

^^  Yes,"  said  one  of  tlie  Jerusalemites,  in  answer  to 
this,  ^'  that  jou  are  ignorant  can  be  seen  even  by 
the  jargon  you  here  call  language,"  These  words 
offended  the  self-respect  of  the  Galileans  and  caused 
bad  feelings.  An  old  man,  who  was  at  least  as 
old  as  the  two  Rabbis  together,  answered  quietly 
and  smilingly  :  ''  N^ot  so  strict,  ye  gentlemen  from 
Jerusalem,  for  Galilee  has  not  only  beautiful  fields, 
but  also  great  men.  And  this  Jesus  of  I^azareth, 
ye  must  also  confess,  is  a  great  Man,  even  if  He  is 
not  a  learned  man  (^Lamdan),  according  to  your 
cut."  *'  No,  no,"  they  cried,  as  out  of  one  mouth, 
*'  He  is  a  '  MesJiumined  '  (apostate),  He  is  a  ^  Min  ' 
(heretic)  ;  He  is  no  better  than  a  '  Goj '  (heathen)  ; 
He  is  such  an  ''Am  haarez '  (plebeian),  of  which 
Habbi  Jochanan  says  that  they  should  be  torn 
asunder  like  the  fish."  '^  Men  of  Jerusalem,"  cried 
the  master  of  the  house,  in  order  to  restore  the 
social  harmony  of  the  company,  "  do  not  judge  so 
harshly  concerning  this  Man  to  whom  so  many  per- 
sons, in  and  around  Capernaum,  who  were  sick  owe 
the  restoration  of  their  health.  You  have  just 
come  here  ;  observe  Him  this  evening  and  later ;  do 
not  jump  at  conclusions  so  quickly."     The  two  men 


136  A    DAY    IX    CAPERNAUM. 

felt  that  they  were  doing  themselves  more  harm 
than  good  by  such  angry  outbursts,  and  continued  : 
"  Men  of  Galilee,  dear  brethren,  have  you  not  read 
in  the  Book  of  Job  (6  :  26)  :  '  Do  ye  imagine  to  re- 
prove words,  seeing  that  the  speeches  of  one  that 
is  desperate  are  as  wind  V  The  zeal  for  our  nation; 
which  needs  union  now  more  than  ever,  has  made 
us  harsh.  Do  not  the  name  Tiberias  on  this  side 
and  of  Bethsaida  Julias  on  the  other  side  of  this 
beautiful  lake  remind  you  that  you  are  no  longer 
masters  in  your  own  country  ?  A  garrison  consist- 
ing of  Gentile  mercenaries  forcibly  reminds  you 
that  you  are  servants  of  Herod,  and  that  he  is  a  ser- 
vant of  the  Romans.  You  must  suffer  the  picture 
of  the  Roman  Emperor  on  your  golden  coin  ;  and 
every  copper  coin  that  is  issued  has  at  least  his 
name.  Shall  we,  the  sons  of  free  men,  be  forever 
slaves  ?  'No  ;  our  teachers  have  said  :  *  Between 
the  present  age  and  the  age  of  the  Messiah  there  is 
nothing  except  the"  rule  of  the  stranger. '  When, 
then,' the  Messiah  comes  He  will  collect  Israel  around 
His  banners,  and  will  break  the  yoke  of  this  godless 
Roman  supremacy,  and  will  purify  the  land  of  Israel 
from  the  abomination  of  heathendom,  the  theatres, 


THE   EVENING.  137 

liippodromes,  circuses,  and  images,  wliicli  are  now 
found  in  sucli  abundance  from  Jerusalem  over  to 
Gadara,  and  from  Cisrin  (Csesarea)  to  Beisan  (Scy- 
tliopolis).  And  now,  just  look  at  this  Nazarene, 
and  answer  if  Re  can  be  the  Messiah,  which  the 
Minim  of  this  Capernaum  hold  Him  to  be  ?  Just 
imagine  a  helmet  on  His  head  and  a  sword  in  His 
hand  !  You  cannot  do  it.  He  is  not  the  One  who 
is  to  destroy  Rome's  power.  Instead  of  uniting  the 
nation,  He  divides  it  by  His  new  teachings  ;  and 
instead  of  leading  them  to  a  war  against  the  world- 
power,  He  preaches  contentment  with  the  slavery, 
and  obedience  to  the  tyrants." 

This  was  about  the  tenor  of  the  speech  of  the  two 
men,  and  when  the  one  paused  he  would  be  relieved 
by  the  other.  Compared  with  the  servile  obedience 
of  the  Romanites  and  Herod ians,  who  utilized  the 
present  for  their  selfish  purposes,  and  with  the  Es- 
senes,  who  lived  a  retired  life  of  dreams,  the  patriotic 
enthusiasm  and  religious  zeal  of  these  disciples  of 
the  Pharisees  challenged  admiration.  But  when  they 
looked  around,  anxious  to  hear  what  answer  they 
would  receive,  the  whole  company  was  seized  with 
a  curiosity  that  bore  them  resistless  along.     Outside 


138  A    DAY   IN    CAPERNAUM. 

on  the  street,  in  front  of  the  house,  a  loud  noise  was 
heard.  They  heard  the  steps  of  those  hastening  by, 
and  the  din  of  many  voices,  sending  over  the  garden 
enclosure  the  words:  "He  comes!  By  water! 
Away,  on  the  Magdala  side!"  "My  worthy 
guests,"  said  the  master  of  the  house,  arising,  "  if 
you  want  to  see  Him,  follow  me  ;  for  if  He  comes 
by  water.  He  will  pass  by  near  ns. "  The  whole 
company  hastened,  as  though  drawn  by  magnetism, 
after  the  master  of  the  house,  and  took  their  posi- 
tions under  the  alkit,  a  covered  open  hall,  on  an 
elevation  thrown  up  in  the  corner  of  the  garden, 
from  where  they  could  have  a  wide  sweep  of  the 
water. 

It  was  not  long  until  those  that  were  assembled 
behind  upon  the  hill  saw  a  grand  sight.  For  them 
was  meant  the  word  which  they  could  not  yet  ap- 
preciate :  "  Blessed  are  the  eyes  which  see  what  ye 
see  ;' '  but  we  glory  also  in  the  favor  bestowed  upon 
us,  because  we  can  picture  to  our  mind  what  they 
saw,  and  can  behold  it  with  the  eyes  of  our  souls. 
The  boat  that  passed  bore  Jesus  and  the  four  older 
apostles  ;  for  Peter  and  Andrew  had  w^aited  for  Him 
on  the  lake  with  tlieir  boat,  and  James  and  John  had 


THE    EVENING.  139 

hastened  from  Betlisaida.  Back  at  the  rudder  sat 
Peter,  with  dignified  mien,  in  which  the  proud  con- 
sciousness found  its  expression  that  he  was  all  owed 
to  be  the  entertainer  of  Him  who  sat  before  him.  Sit- 
ting on  the  front  seat,  and  steadily  gazing  at  Jesus, 
Andrew  and  James  divided  the  gentle  waves  of  the 
water  with  their  oars,  so  that  the  boat,  although 
without  sails,  flew  along  as  though  it  had  wings. 
On  the  middle  seat  sat  Jesus,  and  at  His  left  the 
disciple  whom  He  loved.  Jesus  with  His  right  hand 
was  clasping  the  right  of  John,  and  pressed  it  to 
His  heart  ;  and  John,  feeling  the  pulsations  of  His 
heart,  had  sunk  into  a  deep,  blissful  contemplation. 
And  He  Himself  ?  how  did  He  whom  no  pen  could 
describe  appear  ?  Youth  and  manhood,  mildness 
and  strength,  undiminished  powers  and  nameless 
sufferings,  exalted  majesty  and  gentle  humility,  all 
these  were  united  in  a  wonderful  manner  in  His 
countenance  and  deportment.  Heaven  and  earth 
were  joined  in  Him  ;  the  heavenly  light  penetrated 
through  the  earthly,  and  the  earthly  subdued  the 
power  of  the  heavenly  light.  He  looked  differently 
from  what  He  had  done  during  the  day.  He  was 
not  bent  down,  and  did  not  look  down  before  Him  ; 


140  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM, 

r       ^ 

but,  witli  raised  head  and  joyous  countenance,  He 
looked  around  Him,  sitting  like  a  King  in  His  royal 
barge  ;  and  the  many  boats  that  followed  Him 
looked  as  though  they  were  His  fleet.  He  loved 
the  evening  above  all  the  hours  of  the  day.  He 
looked  back  this  evening  with  satisfaction  on  His 
work  of  the  day,  which  His  heavenly  Father  had 
given  Him  to  do.  He  found  Himself  separated 
from  the  world,  and  yet  visible  to  all  the  world  in 
His  congregation,  which  was  represented  in  the  two 
apostolic  pairs  of  brothers.  He  felt  a  foretaste  of 
the  Sabbath  into  which  He  would  be  about  to  enter 
when  His  work  would  be  done.  Several  rays  of  the 
evening  sun  seemed  to  have  forgotten  to  depart  in 
order  to  disappear  in  the  glory  of  His  countenance ; 
just  as  if  to  see  Him,  tl^e  full  moon,  in  its  purple 
glow,  rose  behind  the  brown  hills  beyond  ;  a  gentle 
evening  zephyr  arose,  as  if  to  cool  the  Lord's  brow  ; 
the  sea  rose  and  fell  as  in  a  solemn  rhythmic 
measure  ;  the  waves  that  played  around  His 
boat  threw  at  Him  glittering  diamonds.  It  was  an 
overwhelming  sight.  As  the  boat  passed  by  the 
garden,  Peter  called  the  attention  of  Jesus  to  the 
spectators  on  the  pavilion.     He  looked  up  with  a 


THE   EVENING.  141 

gracious  smile.  Then  a  young  man  among  the 
guests  in  the  garden  cried  out  :  ' '  Elaha  de  Jisrael^ 
den  malccb  Meshica^''  (by  the  God  of  Israel,  this  is 
the  King  Messiah)  ;  and  the  old  sire  put  the  seal 
upon  this  cry  with  the  firmly  spoken  words  : 
"  Ihu  nihu^^  (it  is  He).  Thereupon  the  two  Jeru- 
salemites  drew  as  many  of  their  guests  as  they  could; 
down  with  them,  crying  :  ''  Turn  away  your  eyes  ; 
woe  unto  you  !  You  are  under  the  spell  of  a  sor- 
cerer !" 

On  the  south  side  was  the  landing-place  for  the 
boats  which  had  brought  lumber  from  the  high 
plateau  of  Gola  from  the  eastern  side  of  the  sea. 
To  this  place  the  boat  containing  Jesus  was  rowed, 
shooting  rapidly  past  the  harbor  of  Capernaum  and 
past  the  whole  length  of  the  city.  AVhen  it  had 
arrived  at  its  destination  but  a  few  persons  were 
gathered  there,  who  appeared  to  have  come  for  no 
other  purpose  than  to  examine  the  lumber  and 
fire-wood  collected  there.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
was  rather  an  accidental  good  fortune  that  the  vessel 
bearing  the  sick  woman  from  Magdala,  w^iose  cries 
could  be  hushed  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  by 
her  mother,  happened  to  be  lying  here.      "  Lord," 


142  A    DAY    IN    CAPEIIXAUM. 

said  Jolin,  ^Miere  is  work  for  Thee  already." 
"  However  this  may  be,"  answered  Jesus,  ''  I  must 
do  the  work  of  Him  that  hath  sent  Me.  The  night 
will  come  when  no  one  can  work."  Scarcely  had 
the  woman  caught  a  glance  of  Him  than  she  at 
once  recognized  Him  whose  identity  could  not  be 
mistaken,  and  cried  out  with  heart-piercing  words  : 
^'  O  Jesus,  our  Teacher  and  Helper,  Thou  Messen- 
ger of  the  Most  Merciful,  help  my  poor  child  ;  for 
the  Holy  One — blessed  be  He — has  heard  my  prayer, 
that  we  have  found  Thee  and  Thou  us."  There- 
upon Peter,  with  the  assistance  of  the  two  others, 
who  were  allowing  their  oars  merely  to  touch  the 
water,  guided  the  boat  in  such  a  manner  that  its 
side  touched  closely  the  side  of  the  other  boat. 
Jesus  arose  ;  the  woman  fell  upon  her  knees  ;  the 
sick  woman  tried  with  all  her  power  to  arise  and 
throw  herself  head  foremost  over  the  other  side  of 
the  boat  into  the  water.  The  boatman  and  John, 
who  had  jumped  into  the  water,  seized  her  by  the 
arms,  and  the  mother  despairingly  clung  to  the  long 
hair-braids  of  her  child,  and  hid  her  face  in  them. 
Her  tears  ceased  to  flow  ;  her  thoughts  at  this  de- 
cisive hour  stood  still  ;  her  soul  was  entirely  ab- 


THE   EVENING.  143 

sorbed  in  prayer,  although  she  did  not  utter  a  word. 
"Whence  are  these  people?"  asked  Jesus  of  the 
boatman.  And  when  He  heard  that  they  were  from 
Magdala,  He  said  to  His  disciples  :  "  AVoe  unto 
this  Magdala,  for  it  will  be  converted  unto  ruins  on 
account  of  its  unchastity.  All  the  rich  treasures 
which  it  takes  down  to  Jerusalem  will  not  help  it  ; 
for,  as  the  prophet  says,  the  wages  of  lewdness 
she  has  gathered,  and  she  will  become  the  wages  of 
unchastity."  Thereupon  He  said,  "Turn  her 
face  toward  Me,  that  I  may  see  it  !"  This  was 
hard  to  do,  for  the  sick  woman  bent  her  head  down 
as  near  the  water  as  possible.  But  John  suc- 
ceeded at  last  through  gentle  words.  "  Mary,"  He 
said  (for,  having  turned  to  the  mother,  he  has 
quietly  asked  her  name),  "  do  you  always  want  to 
remain  in  the  power  of  the  demons  ?  See,  the  Sub- 
duer  of  demons  is  here  before  you  ;  look  at  Him, 
and  you  will  be  healed.  "We  are  all  praying  for 
you,  as  did  our  teacher  Moses — peace  be  unto  Him 
— for  his  sister  (Num.  12  :  13)  :  '  Heal  her,  O 
God  !  '  Do  not  put  our  j)rayer  to  shame.  Now  is 
the  time,  when  you  can  make  yourself  and  your 
mother  happy."     These  words  were  effectual  ;  she 


144  A    DAY    IN   CAPERNAUM. 

suffered  them  to  raise  lier  head  and  turn  her  face  to 
Jesus.  When  she  saw  Him,  her  whole  body  was 
thrown  into  violent  contortions,  so  that  the  boat  be- 
gan to  rock,  and  she  uttered  cries  of  pain  that 
moved  heart  and  soul,  and  were  heard  far  out  in 
the  sea.  Jesus,  however,  kept  His  eyes  fixed  on 
hers  ;  He  looked  through  her,  into  her  heart  of 
hearts,  and  melted  by  His  burning  glances  the  seven- 
fold chain  by  which  her  soul  was  imprisoned.  The 
raving  woman  became  submissive,  and  it  was  no 
longer  necessary  to  hold  her.  Her  agitation  quieted 
down,  the  contortions  of  her  face  and  the  unsteadi- 
ness of  her  eyes  disappeared,  a  heavy  perspiration 
oozed  down  from  her  forehead  and  mingled  with 
the  tears  that  gushed  from  her  eyes.  Her  mother 
made  room  for  her,  and,  sinking  down  where  she 
had  until  now  been  kneeling,  she  cried  out  with  a 
subdued,  trembling  voice  to  Jesus  :  '^  O  Lord,  I  am 
a  great  sinner  ;  is  the  door  of  repentance  still  open 
for  me  ?"  ''  Be  of  good  cheer.  My  daughter,"  He 
answered,  "  God  hath  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of 
the  wicked.  Thou  hast  been  the  dwelling-place  of 
evil  spirits  ;  become  now  a  temple  of  the  living 
God  !"     And  the  mother,  who  cried  out  to  Him  : 


THE   EVENING.  145 

''  O  thanks  unto  Thee,  thou  Comforter  of  Israel," 
was  interrupted  by  the  words  :  ^'  Go  back  now 
speedily  to  Magdala,  and  do  not  talk  much  about 
the  affair;  but  thank  God  without  ostentation." 
John  went  back  into  the  boat  of  Jesus,  and  soon 
the  other  boat  sailed  away.  The  two  women  sat 
on  the  middle  seat.  Mary  Magdalene  in  gratitude 
embraced  her  mother,  and  the  two  sat  together  in 
silence,  and  looked  as  though  they  were  transfixed 
at  Jesus,  until  the  shore  that  constantly  receded 
westward  hid  Him  from  view. 

When  the  boat  with  the  women  had  disappeared, 
Peter  tied  his  to  the  post  at  which  the  other  had 
been  tied.  Jesus,  however,  was  lost  in  thought, 
and,  without  looking  around,  remained  seated  in  the 
boat.  The  disciples,  also,  whose  reverence  for  Him 
would  not  allow  them  to  suggest  to  Him  to  step 
out,  remained  with  Him.  In  the  mean  while  the 
people  of  Capernaum,  men,  women,  and  children, 
came  in  crowds,  among  them  also  soldiers  of  the 
garrison,  sent  here  by  the  government  of  Herod 
and  the  Romans,  and  also  a  number  of  strange  faces 
were  seen  of  such  as  had  come  even  from  Syria, 
the  Decapohs,  and  Northern  Galilee,  by  land,  and 


146  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

had  on  the  afternoon  of  the  present  day  reached 
their  destination.  A  happy  accident  had  brought 
also  many  who  had  come  from  Tiberias  by  the 
mountain  road  along  the  sea,  and  had  taken  this 
street  along  the  shore  which  they  had  to  pass  in 
order  to  get  to  Capernaum  ;  and  from  the  tax- 
house  of  Matthew,  who  at  this  time  had  beeu 
affected  by  Jesus'  teaching,-  a  number  of  friends 
came,  who  had  lodged  there,  in  order  to  spy  out  a 
favorable  opportunity  to  see  Jesus.  When  the 
place  was  filled,  Peter  said  softly,  hiding  his  im- 
patience in  his  words  :  ''  Mardna  werahbdna  (our 
Lord  and  Master),  the  people  are  assembled  and 
are  waiting  for  Thee  !' '  Then  Jesus  arose.  Peter 
took  a  board  and  made  a  bridge  from  the  boat  to 
the  shore.  He  hastened  over  himself  to  make  it 
secure,  and  to  make  room  for  them  to  hand,  for  at 
this  place  those  standing  on  the  shore  formed  a  solid 
mass.  Jesus  now  left  the  boat,  and  the  three  other 
disciples  followed.  When  He  had  landed.  He  said  : 
*'  Simon  Cephas  (for  thus  He  addressed  him  when 
He  needed  the  assistance  of  His  faithful  and  ener- 
getic help  in  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  of  God),  I 
have  selected  that  palm-tree  there  as  a  place  from 


THE    EVENING.  147 

whicli  to  address  the  assembly. "  But  it  was  a  diffi- 
cult thing  to  get  there  ;  for  those  who  had  taken 
their  stand  near  the  boats  were  mostly  sick  persons, 
to  whom  precedence  had  been  given  through  pity. 
And  scarcely  had  Jesus  placed  His  foot  on  the  land, 
when  cries  for  help  in  many  dialects  and  various 
salutations  greeted  His  ears:  ^' Kabbi  !"  '' Rab- 
buni!"  ^'The  Holy  One  of  God!"  ''Son  of 
David  !"  ''Son  of  God  !"  sounded  through  each 
other  ;  and  when  Jesus,  motioning  them  away  with 
His  hands,  said  :  "  Do  not  interrupt  Me  ;  this  even- 
ing  is  not  to  be  devoted  to  the  healing  of  your 
bodily  ills  (Matt.  8  :  16),  but  that  you  should  hear 
the  words  of  life  for  your  souls,"  they  nevertheless 
pressed  upon  Him,  so  that  they  might,  at  least, 
'touch  Him  (Mark  3  :  10).  And  when,  finally,  with 
the  assistance  of  His  disciples,  who  quieted  the  peo- 
ple, each  in  his  own  manner,  with  friendly  words, 
He  had  made  His  way  to  the  tree,  He  gave  a  sign 
to  the  people  that  they  should  sit  down.  It  was 
not  a  lofty  but  a  neglected  and  dwarf-like  palm, 
but  it  offered  some  shade.  The  elevation  of  the 
ground  where  He  stood '  was,  indeed,  only  slight, 
but,  after  the  masses  had  taken  their  seats  in  rows 


148  A    DAY    IN   CAPERNAUM. 

all  around  Him,  it  was  quite  noticeable.  The 
lumber  lying  around,  the  women  and  children  had 
as  much  as  possible  taken  possession  of. 

Must  we  now  picture  Jesus  to  us  addressing  the 
assembly  standing  ?  This  idea  would  be  contrary  to 
the  accounts  in  the  Gospels,  from  which  especially 
we  are  drawing  the  leading  features  of  our  jjicture. 
When  He  delivered  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
which  contained  the  leading  outlines  of  the  Messi- 
anic kingdom  over  against  the  fundamental  ideas  of 
the  Sinaitic  law,  and  which  is,  in  the  shape  which  the 
Gospel  records  take  in  the  narrative  of  Matthew, 
a  model  of  His  way  of  preaching.  He  is  represented 
as  sitting.  This  is  represented  correctly  in  the  old 
German  Gospel  ]3oem  called  the  ^'  Ileliandy 
*'  And  silently  He  sat,  and  looked  at  them  for  along 
while  with  gentle  soul  and  gracious  heart.  And 
when  He  opened  His  sacred  mouth,  glorious  words 
flowed  therefrom."  When  Luke  (6  :  IT)  says  that 
He,  after  descending  from  the  top  of  the  mountain, 
walked  upon  a  level  place,  this  means  that  He 
halted  at  such  a  place — namely,  by  sitting  down. 
The  saddle-like  mount  ''  Karn  Ilattin,^''  which  is 
generally  considered  as  the  mountain  of  the  Beati- 


THE    EVENING.  149 

tildes,  has  two  peaks  or  horns,  and  the  terraces  be- 
neath the  eastern  one  are,  at  least,  very  suitable  to 
illustrate  this.  In  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth,  Jesus 
is,  indeed,  represented  as  standing  in  reading  the 
''^  Haftara,''^  or  prophetic  lesson  for  the  Sabbath 
day  ;  but  when  the  book-roll  has  been  closed  and 
given  to  the  '^  Shammash'^  (servant  of  the  syna- 
gogue). He  delivers  His  address,  His  '''  Derasha,^'' 
sitting  ;  as,  in  general,  the  regular  '^  Darshan^''^  or 
preacher  of  the  synagogue,  sat.  But  by  the  side  of 
Him  stood  the  Amora,  who  was  His  assistant,  in 
order  to  interpret  to  the  congregation  what  was 
spoken  (hence  called  Methurgeman^  or  interpreter), 
or  to  repeat  it  with  a  loud  voice.  And  in  the  tem- 
ple at  Jerusalem,  also,  Jesus  is  represented  as  teach- 
ing while  seated  (John  8  :  2).  And  when,  on  one 
occasion  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  Feast  of  the 
Tabernacles,  He  takes  His  stand  in  the  temple  (John 
7  :  37),  and,  connecting  His  thoughts  with  the  sacred 
practice  of  carrying  water  from  the  pool  of  Siloam, 
to  pour  it  over  the  altar.  He  cried  out  to  the  peo- 
ple :  "  K  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  Me, 
and  drink"  (John  7  :  37),  this  must  be  regarded  as 
a  cry  spoken  into  the  noise  of  the  festivities,  and 


150  A    DAY   IN"   CAPERNAUM. 

not  as  a  public  address.  Before  the  feeding  of  the 
five  thousand  and  of  the  four  thousand,  we  find 
Him  sitting  upon  the  mountain  (John  6:3;  Matt. 
15  :  29).  And  the  three  Evangelists,  whose  books 
are  called  the  Synoptic  Gospels,  because  thej^  are 
of  a  like  type  of  Gospel  composition,  give  us  in 
close  connection  a  series  of  parables  as  a  picture  of 
the  Lord's  manner  of  teaching  by  parables  ;  He  is 
represented  as  sitting  upon  the  shore  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  (Matt.  13  : 1),  and  when  the  crowd  pressed 
upon  Him,  and  crowded  in  upon  Him,  He  enters 
the  boat  of  Simon,  and  tells  him  to  push  it  away  a 
short  distance  from  the  shore,  and  preaches  from  it 
to  the  multitude  standing  upon  the  shores  (Luke 
5:3;  Mark  4:1).  In  Capernaum,  also,  w^e  find 
Him  sitting.  AVhile  sitting  He  calls  the  twelve 
(Mark  9  :  35),  and,  while  holding  a  child  that  had 
come  there,  in  His  arms.  He  teaches  them  concern- 
ing the  childlike  hearts  and  childlike  love.  And 
when  His  mother  and  His  brethren  visit  Him  in 
Capernaum,  He  is  in  the  house,  and  a  crowd  of 
people  is  sitting  around  Him  (Mark  3  :  32).  This 
is  a  similar  scene  to  the  one  in  Ezekiel,  when  the 
prophet  of  the  Babylonian  exile  sits  in  his  home  at 


THE   EVENING.  151 

Tel  Abib^  and  the  elders  of  Israel  are  sitting  before 
him  to  listen  to  the  Word  of  the  Lord  (Ezek.  1, 
passim).  The  Tahnudic  tradition  says,  that  from 
the  time  of  Moses  (Ex.  18  :  13,  sq.)  the  teachers  sat 
and  the  audience  stood,  and  that  only  from  the  days  of 
Habbi  Gamaliel  {i.e.,  still  previous  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem)  the  people,  also,  on  account  of 
increasing  weakness,  sat.  We  would  accordingly 
be  in  error  were  we  to  think  that  Jesus  addressed 
the  assembly  standing.  Under  this  single  pahn- 
tree  lay  a  natural  rock,  upon  which  He  had  often 
sat,  in  order  to  resign  Himself  to  silent  contempla- 
tion under  the  shade  of  the  tree,  or  to  feast  His  eyes 
on  the  sea.  The  academy  at  Jabne  (Jamnia)  was 
built  in  the  shape  of  a  hippodrome.  Sitting  upon 
an  ordinary  stone,  the  Rabbi  Eliezer  ben- Azaria, 
after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  appointed  as 
patriarch,  delivered  his  addresses.  It  was,  then, 
nothing  extraordinary  when  Jesus,  the  extraordinary 
Rabbi,  took  His  seat  on  this  occasion  on  the  rock 
and  made  it  His  pulpit. 

How  did  He  begin  ?  we  ask  further.  How  did 
He  address  the  assembly  ?  The  Gospels  do  not 
give  us  any  direct  information  on  this  subject,  for 


152  A    DAY    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

their  interest  in  the  form  of  Jesns'  addresses  is  sub- 
ordinate to  their   interest   in  their  contents.     The 
words  spoken  also  to  the  apostles,  which  we  find 
in  the   four    Gospels,   have   no   special  formal  ad- 
dresses, and  of  the  many  sermons  preached  to  the 
people  or  to  a  larger  circle  of  disciples  (Mark  5  :  1, 
sg.j  Luke  6  :  20),  we  have  but  one — namely,  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which  begins   with   beati- 
tudes, and  does  not  admit  of  a  formal   opening. 
Elsewhere  we  hear  Him  addressing  Chorazin,  Beth- 
saida,  and  Capernaum,  over  which  He  utters  His 
cry  of  woe  ;  and  the  Pharisees  and  Scribes,  from 
whose  face  He  tears  the   mask  of  hypocrisy  with 
His  eightfold  woes  ;  and  then  Jerusalem,  the  mur- 
deress of  the  prophets,  to  which,   amid  tears,  He 
predicts  a  dire  judgment,  which  she  had  brought 
upon  herself  through  her  rejection  of  salvation  ; 
but  with  what  words  He  opened  His  addresses  to 
the  people  gathered  around  Him  in  the  synagogues 
in  Jerusalem,  and  in  the  open  country,  of  this  we 
are  not  informed.     We   must,   then,    endeavor   to 
learn  it  from  other  sources.     When  He  addresses 
the  women  of  Jerusalem,  who  followed  Him  weep- 
ing and  lamenting  to  the  place  of  crucifixion,  with 


THE    EVENING.  153 

the  words  :  "  Daughters  of  Jerusalem"  {Jjenoth  Je- 
ru^halajim)  (Luke  23  :  28),  then  Ilis  address,  di- 
rected to  an  audience  composed  chiefly  of  the  men, 
would  have  been,  ''  Sons  of  Israel  "  (bene  JisraeT), 
especially  as  He  loved  to  call  Ilis  people  by  the  name 
indicating  their  mission  as  the  children  of  God  — 
namely,  Israel  (Matt.  8  :  10  ;  10  :  6-23,  sqq.)  ;  and 
only  once  does  He — namely,  when  He  is  speaking  to 
the  Samaritan  woman — call  them  by  the  name  of 
Jews,  and  even  on  this  occasion,  not  without  assign- 
ing to  the  Jews  their  honor  in  this  regard,  saying  : 
"  Salvation  is  from  the  Jews"  (John  4  :  22).  And 
what  special  shape  His  address  took  when  directed 
to  the  Jews  of  Galilee,  or  Judea,  or  Jerusalem  in 
particular,  we  can  learn  from  the  words  of  the  angel 
(Acts  1  :  11),  saying  :  ''  Men  of  Gahlee,  why  stand 
ye  looking  into  heaven  ?"  When  the  Lord,  as  He, 
on  an  evening  such  as  we  are  here  describing,  looked 
over  the  people  assembled  around  Him,  He  prob- 
ably addressed  them  as  ''  Sons  of  Israel,  Men  of 
Galilee"  {hene  JisraeL  anshe  ha-Galil), 

However,  when  we  attempt  to  picture  to  our 
minds  Christ's  manner  of  addressing  the  people,  we 
must  not  measure  it  with  the  rules  of  our  rhetoric 


154  A   DAY   IN   CAPERNAUM. 

and  liomiletics.  Just  as  He  has  taken  our  flesli  and 
blood  upon  Himself,  though  without  our  sin,  thus, 
too,  in  His  addresses,  notwithstanding  their  new 
and  entirely  unique  contents.  He  shows  Himself 
throughout  as  a  member  of  a  Semitic,  and,  more 
particularly,  of  the  Jewish  people.  The  Japhetic 
manner  of  address  is  marked  throughout  by  this,  that 
it  makes  one  point  the  central  thought,  from  which 
a  circle  of  thought  is  described,  and  within  this 
circle  radii  are  drawn  in  all  directions.  The  Semitic 
manner,  however,  adds  line  to  line  and  point  to 
point,  and  is  content  with  the  inner  harmony  of 
spirit  and  purpose.  From  the  method  of  thought 
as  practised  by  the  former  the  thought  composition 
of  the  latter  is  distinguished  also  by  this,  that  the 
thought  seeks  to  advance  from  its  purely  abstract 
character  to  some  embodiment,  and  clothes  itself 
either  in  some  figurative  form  or  finds  expression  in 
an  illustration  or  parable.  He  who  is  acquainted 
with  the  Talmud  or  Midrash  knows  also  that  illus- 
tration through  parables  is  a  characteristic  and  fun- 
damental feature  of  the  Jewish  method  of  teaching. 
A  natural  result  of  this  preference  for  sententious 
and  picture  speech  is  the  brevity  of  the  discourse. 


THE   EVENING.  155 

Tlie  speaker  dare  not  make  it  long,  in  order  not  to 
overburden  the  hearer,  but  he  must  give  liim  time 
to  think.  And  as  in  the  case  of  teachers  who  are 
not  themselves  organs  of  divine  revelation,  every- 
thing that  is  offered  for  the  purpose  of  being  re- 
ceived must  be  drawn  from  the  recognized  records 
of  revelation  ;  all  these  addresses  have  this  in  com- 
mon, that  they  proceed  in  part  from  words  of  Scrip- 
ture as  their  basis,  and  in  part  lead  to  words  of 
Scripture  as  their  outcome.  One  example  may 
suffice.  Based  on  the  words  :  ''  He  hath  clothed 
me  with  garments  of  salvation,"  taken  from  the 
sixty- first  chapter  of  Isaiah,  from  which  Jesus 
took  His  text  in  His  address  in  the  synagogue  at 
Kazareth,  an  old  address,  preserved  in  a  Jewish 
w^ork,  proceeds  :  ''  Seven  garments  the  Holy  One — 
blessed  be  He — has  put  on,  and  will  put  on  from  the 
time  the  world  was  created  until  the  hour  when  He 
will  punish  the  whole  of  wicked  Edom"  (a  figura- 
tive expression  for  the  Roman  Empire).  When  He 
created  the  world.  He  clothed  Himself  in  honor 
and  majesty,  as  is  said  (Ps.  104  :  1)  :  "  Thou  art 
clothed  in  honor  and  majesty."  Whenever  He 
forgave  Israel's  sins.  He  clothed  Himself  in  white  ; 


156  A    DAY    IN^    CAPERXAUM. 

for  we  read  (Dan.  7:9):  "  His  garment  was  white 
as  snow."  When  He  punishes  the  people  of  the 
world,  He  puts  on  the  garment  of  vengeance,  as  is 
said  (Isa.  59  :  17)  :  ''  He  put  on  garments  of  ven- 
geance for  clothing,  and  was  clad  with  zeal  as  a 
cloak."  The  sixth  garment  He  will  put  on  when 
the  Messiah  comes  ;  then  He  will  clothe  Himself 
in  a  garment  of  righteousness,  for  it  is  said  (Isa. 
59  :  17)  :  "  And  He  puts  on  righteousness  as  a 
breastplate  and  an  helmet  of  salvation  upon  His 
head."  The  seventh  garment  He  will  put  on  when 
He  punishes  Edom  ;  then  He  will  clothe  Himself 
in  Adorn  —i.e.,  red  ;  for  it  is  said  (Isa.  63  :  2)  : 
*'  Wherefore  art  Thou  red  in  Thine  apparel  V '  But 
the  garment  which  He  will  put  upon  the  Messiah, 
this  will  shine  far  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the 
other  ;  for  it  is  said  (Isa.  61  :  10)  :  "As  a  bride- 
groom decketh  himself  with  a  garland."  And  the 
Israelites  will  partake  of  His  light,  and  will  speak  : 
"  Blessed  is  the  hour  when  the  Messiah  shall  come  ; 
blessed  the  womb  out  of  which  He  shall  come  ; 
blessed  His  contem^poraries  who  are  eye-witnesses  ; 
blessed  the  eye  that  is  honored  with  a  sight  of  Him  ! 
For  the  opening  of  His  lips  is  blessing  and  peace  ; 


THE    EVENING.  157 

His  speecli  is  a  moving  of  the  spirits  ;  the  thoughts 
of  His  heart  are  confidence  and  cheerfulness  ;  the 
speech  of  His  tongue  is  pardon  and  forgiveness  ; 
His  prayer  is  the  sweet  incense  of  offerings  ;  His 
petitions  are  hohness  and  purity.  Oh,  how  blessed 
is  Israel  for  whom  such  has  been  prepared  !"  For 
it  is  said  (Ps.  31  :  19)  :  ''  How  great  is  Thy  good- 
ness, which  Thou  hast  laid  up  for  them  that  fear 
Thee  !" 

This  picture  of  the  Messiah  is  like  a  mirror- re- 
flection of  the  appearance  of  Jesus  ;  like  an  echo  of 
the  Gospel.  When  the  disciples  on  the  Mount  of 
Transfiguration  experienced  the  prelude  of  the  glory 
that  is  to  come,  the  glittering  white  light  of  His 
garments  was  not  absent  (Matt.  17  :  2).  But  at 
that  time  when  He  was  sitting  on  the  rock  under 
the  palm-tree,  His  garments  were  indeed  chaste  and 
choice,  but  not  aristocratic  or  remarkable  in  any 
respect.  Upon  His  head  He  wore  a  white  sudar, 
fastened  under  His  chin  by  a  cord,  and  hanging 
down  backward  over  His  shoulders,  and  over  the 
tunic  which  covered  the  body  to  the  hands  and  feet. 
He  wore  a  blue  tallith,  with  bluish  white  fringe  at 
the  four  edges,  thrown  around  and  over  Him  in 


158  A   DAY   IN   CAPERNAUM. 

such  a  manner  that  the  gray  and  red-striped  tunic 
could  be  seen  only  in  parts,  and  only  now  and  then 
the  feet,  under  which  sandals  were  fastened,  were 
visible. 

It  is  a  matter  of  course  that  He,  who,  notwith- 
standing that  He  was  rich,  had  become  poor  for  our 
sakes,  would  not  clothe  Himself  in  genuine  purple. 
Nor  in  scarlet  ;  this  showy  red  contradicts  what 
the  prophet  has  foretold,  saying  that  He  will  not 
cry  or  shout,  nor  will  His  voice  be  heard  on  the 
streets.  Herod  Antipas  sent  Him  covered  with 
such  a  showy  garment  back  to  Pilate,  in  order  to 
deride  Him.  N^or  was  He  clothed  in  white  ;  for, 
on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  His  garments  be- 
came white  as  snow  and  white  as  light  ;  hence  they 
were  not  white,  but  colored.  Nor  was  He  dressed 
in  black,  for  He  performed  His  first  miracle  at  a 
wedding.  Black  was  the  dress  of  those  in  mourn- 
ing, of  those  that  were  accused,  those  that  were  ex- 
communicated, and  was  so  little  in  general  vogue 
that  entirely  black  shoes  were  regarded  as  non-Jew- 
ish. Nor  can  yellow  or  green  be  thought  of  ;  for 
nowhere  do  the  old  sources  concerning  Jewish  life 
make  any  sure  mention  of  these  two  colors  for  cloth- 


THE   EVENING.  159 

ing.  Hence  we  are  almost  of  necessity  restricted  to 
blue  and  red.  Blue  as  the  color  of  the  outer  garment 
was  in  general  usage.  As  the  color  of  the  Lord's 
garments  was  not  left  to  accident  to  select,  it  is  quite 
natural  to  suppose  that  He  preferred  the  blue  in 
common  usage  as  the  color  of  heaven  made  sacred 
through  God's  law.  The  color  of  His  tunic  could 
possibly  have  been  blue  ;  but  no  color  is  better 
suited  than  the  mild  red  for  the  coming  King  of 
heaven.  He  did  not  parade  His  heavenly  origin  or 
royal  dignity,  neither  did  He  deny  them.  When, 
then,  a  famous  artist,  in  the  picture  of  Christ  carry- 
ing the  cross,  paints  Him  with  a  blue  outer  garment 
and  a  red  tunic,  this  is  entirely  in  harmony  with  the 
mind  of  Jesus  and  with  His  calling  and  work.  For 
blood  is  red,  and  the  skies  with  their  transparent, 
boundless  depths  are  blue.  The  self-sacrificing  love 
is  red  ;  the  covenant  of  grace  is  blue,  which  this 
grace  seals.  His  path  was  red — blood-red  ;  heavenly 
blue  was  the  goal  of  His  way.  The  cross  was  His 
ladder  to  the  throne  of  sapphire,  and  the  garment 
of  the  royal  Lord  is  colored  by  the  purple  of  His 
blood.  As  the  Scriptures  say  :  '^  Who  for  the  joy 
that  was  set  before  Him  endured  the  cross,  despis- 


160  A    DiS.Y    IN    CAPERNAUM. 

ing  shame,  and  liath  sat  down  at  tlie  right  hand  of 
the  throne  of  God  "  (Heb.  12  :  2). 

When  Jesus  had  taken  His  seat  there  under  the 
palm-tree,  and  His  eyes  had  swept  over  the  assem- 
bly, the  multitude  became  more  and  more  quiet, 
until  nothing  else  could  be  heard  except  the  gentle 
breaking  of  the  waves  against  the  shore.  And 
when  He  began  His  address  with  tlie  words  :  "  jBene 
Jisrael^  anshe  ha-Galil^''  He  did  not  speak  with  a 
great — i.e.^  loud  voice,  which  He  is  stated  to  have 
done  only  on  two  occasions — namely,  when  He 
called  Lazarus  out  of  the  tomb  (John  11  :  43),  and 
when  He  lamented  upon  the  cross  (Matt.  27  :  46). 
But  in  this  He  was  the  realization  of  the  idea  of  the 
servant  of  the  Lord,  of  whom  Isaiah  prophesied 
that  He  would  not  cry  out,  and  His  voice  w^ould 
not  be  heard  on  the  street — ^.^.,  He  will  not  cry 
out  to  attract  public  attention  and  approbation.  His 
voice  was  pure,  penetrating,  measured,  melodious. 
It  sounded  like  the  tones  of  a  silver  bell  through  the 
assembly,  from  one  end  to  the  other  ;  it  was  impos- 
sible not  to  be  fascinated  by  it.  The  whole  strength 
of  His  soul  was  centred  in  His  words,  and  the  cords 
of  the  souls  of   those  around  Him  were  agitated 


THE   EVENING.  161 

thereby,  and  wlioever  did  not  wilfully  resist  the 
influence  was  compelled  to  say  :  "  My  innermost 
soul  was  moved  like  a  zither." 

He  sat  upon  the  stone  under  the  palm-tree.  To 
His  right  and  to  His  left  stood  Simon  and  Andrew, 
the  sons  of  Jonah,  and  James  and  John,  the  sons  of 
Zebedee.  The  multitude  sat  close  to  His  feet. 
"  Sons  of  Israel,  men  of  Galilee,"  He  began,  '^  the 
time  is  fulfilled,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  has  come. 
Repent,  and  believe  the  Gospel.  Moses,  your 
teacher — peace  be  unto  him — has  said  that  the  Lord 
would  raise  up  a  Propliet  like  unto  him,  and  ye 
should  hear  Him,  and  whoever  will  not  listen  to 
this  Prophet  shall  die.  Amen,  I  tell  you  ;  whoso- 
ever believeth  on  Me  hath  eternal'  life.  No  one 
knoweth  the  Father  except  the  Son,  and  no  one 
knoweth  the  Son  except  the  Father,  and  to  whom  the 
Son  revealeth  it."  Then  He  continued  in  a  raised 
voice  :  "  Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  are  weary  and 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  My 
yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  Me  ;  for  1  am  meek  and 
lowly  in  heart ;  and  ye  shall  find  rest  for  your  souls. 
For  My  yoke  is  easy  and  My  burden  is  light." 
And,  finally,  he  said  :   "  Take  upon  you  the  yoke 


162  A   DAY   IN   CAPERNAUM. 

of  the  kingdom  of  lieaven,  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  the  fulfihnent  of  the  law  and  the  proph- 
ets. Give  lip  that  which  is  least  valuable,  so  that 
ye  may  gain  that  which  is  most  valuable.  Become 
wise  money-changers,  who  esteem  sacred  coin  higher 
than  common  coin,  and,  higher  than  all,  the  one 
priceless  pearl.  He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him 
hear  !"  We  must  connect  speeches  of  this  kind 
with  the  personality  of  the  Speaker,  in  order  to  be 
able  to  measure  the  weight  of  the  impression  made. 
Such  words  forced  their  way  into  the  hearts  of  the 
hearers  as  though  they  were  spears  or  nails,  and  not 
a  few  of  the  utterances  of  Jesus  are  found  brought 
into  circulation  by  the  Jewish  converts,  as  anony- 
mous words,  or  ascribed  to  some  other  person  in  the 
Talmud  and  Midrashin.  But  many  sayings  of 
the  Lord  have  nothing  similar  and  no  imitations. 
The  words  so  frequently  uttered  to  arouse  His 
hearers  to  thoughtfulness  :  '^  He  that  hath  ears,  let 
him  hear  !"  is  entirely  peculiar  to  Him.  And  the 
word  '^  Amen"  (truly),  used  at  the  beginning  of 
sentences  to  strengthen  them,  and  which  in  the  dialect 
of  the  land  sounded  *'  amen  amena  lechon^'^''  is  un- 
known to  the  entire  Jewish  literature.     This  amen, 


THE    EVENING.  163 

found  at  the  opening  of  the  sentence,  is  a  peculiar 
confirmatory  particle  of  Jesus,  so  characteristic  that 
Rev.  3  :  14,  on  the  basis  of  it,  calls  Him  ^'  the 
Amen,  the  faithful  and  true  witness." 

In  the  mean  while  the  last  remnants  of  the  even- 
ing red  had  disappeared  from  the  horizon.  The 
full  moon  had  already  risen  over  the  mountains  on 
the  other  side  of  the  lake,  so  high  that  her  full 
golden  glory  was  reflected  in  the  water  ;  and  on  this 
side,  as  though  born  of  the  evening  red,  the  even- 
ing star  looked  down  smilingly,  and  a  refreshing 
breeze  set  the  palm-leaves  in  motion.  The  later 
part  of  the  evening  was  disappearing  to  make  room 
for  the  first  watch  of  the  night.  Jesus  arose,  and, 
although  He  was  sometimes  wont  to  disappear  sud- 
denly  from    the   midst   of    the   multitude   (Matt. 

13  :  36),  He,  on  this  occasion,  dismissed  them  with 
words  of  admonition  and  a  salutation  of  peace  (Matt- 

14  :  23).  Raising  His  hands  to  bless  them  (Luke 
24  :  50),  His  eye  fell  upon  His  mother.  After  the 
last  words  had  been  spoken.  He  turned  to  the  left, 
whispered  to  John  and  James,  saying  :  ' '  Take  charge 
of  My  mother,"  and  disappeared  in  a  southerly 
direction,    proceeding   upward,  and   going   over    a 


164  A    DAY   IN   CAPERNAUM. 

stony  and  overgrown  way  to  a  hill  that  sloped  grad- 
ually down  to  the  water's  edge.  He  loved  the  soli- 
tude of  the  mountain,  and  many  of  the  peaks  in 
Galilee  and  Persea  were  for  Him  places  to  which 
He  could  withdraw  and  pray,  and  were  thus  conse- 
crated as  ''^  Bethels'^  (God's  houses).  Only  when 
He  had  arrived  at  the  top,  and  the  turmoil  of  the 
world  was  lying  at  His  feet,  did  He  feel  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  rest  at  the  completion  of  the  day's 
work.  Without  closing  Himself  toward  the  outer 
world,  He  was  entirely  absorbed  in  prayer,  and  was 
enjoying  a  sabbath  in  His  soul.  His  eye  swept 
over  the  land  and  the  sea,  encircled  all  with  His 
love,  and  rested  upon  the  places  around  about  with 
the  greetings  of  peace.  He  felt  Himself  as  a  centre 
of  a  whole  world,  and  sent  out  the  fulness  of  His 
sympathy  to  all  sides.  He  extended  His  arms, 
pressed  the  world  to  His  bosom,  fell  down  with  it 
before  God,  and  offered  it,  as  though  through  His 
heart's  blood,  as  an  offering  unto  the  Lord.  Now 
He  touched  His  forehead  to  the  ground,  and  the 
hair  of  His  head  lay  upon  it  as  a  protecting  veil  ; 
now  He  rose  with  difficulty,  and,  stretching  higher 
and  higher  toward  heaven,  as  though  lengthening 


THE    EVENING.  165 

the  natural  size  of  His  bod}^,  He  spoke,  and  was 
silent,  and  spoke  again.  His  prayer  was  a  conver- 
sation with  God.  His  voice  was  low,  rather  lisping 
than  clear.  Finally,  however,  it  resounded  like  the 
voice  of  jubilee  and  of  victory,  so  that  it  was  echoed 
back  by  the  mountain  rocks.  IS^ature  around, 
hitherto  steeped  in  a  dead  silence,  awoke  ;  as  though 
in  the  middle  of  the  night  the  day  had  appeared. 
The  cicadse  surpassed  each  other  with  their  voices  ; 
the  birds  outsang  each  other  ;  the  tops  of  the  trees 
nodded  and  rustled  in  the  wind  ;  the  brook  began, 
as  though  it  had  overcome  an  obstacle  in  the  way, 
to  murmur  more  briskly  ;  and  the  waves  of  the 
Gennesar  Sea  leaped  over  each  other  in  their  effort 
to  reach  the  western  shore,  and  beat  with  the  voice 
of  thunder  against  the  shores  at  Capernaum  and 
Tiberias.  The  mysterious  Man  of  prayer,  however, 
lay  in  silence,  overwhelmed  by  a  feeling  of  joy 
upon  His  face  ;  and,  when  He  had  arisen,  He  walked 
with  rapid  steps  to  the  town  that  was  now  lying  in 
deep  sleep,  where  the  mother-in-law  of  Peter 
opened  the  door  when  He  knocked.  ^' Again,  so 
late,  Lord  !"  she  said,  looking  into  His  eyes  and 
receiving  from  them  a   silent  greeting.     She  pre- 


166  A    DAY   IN   CAPERNAUM. 

ceded  Him  with  a  light  to  His  chamber,  where, 
without  undressing.  He  threw  Himself  upon  His 
couch,  and  at  once  sank  into  a  deep  sleep.  His 
thoughts  closed  with  the  contemplation  of  God's 
will ;  He  rested  in  God's  love,  and  God's  peace 
received  Him. 


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A  day  in  Capernaum. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00013  2797 


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